


until the city burns

by SmoshArrowverseFan



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, F/M, Identity Reveal, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secret Identity, Spider-Clem, Spider-Woman AU, based off of aus from clemjavier's tumblr, believe it or not those are only some of the important characters, i have major plans for this aight, imma be adding more as the story goes on, oh and ill be adding more ships too, or rather, spider-man au, they're all dumb idiots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2019-07-21 01:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 37,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16150091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmoshArrowverseFan/pseuds/SmoshArrowverseFan
Summary: Clementine's always had a lot on her plate- she's at the top of all of her classes, she's the captain of two sports teams, and when she's not in school, or practicing, or at a game, or studying, she's probably hanging out with her three best friends. Plus, she's got this stupid crush she can't seem to shake.Somehow, she managed to balance all of that. Then Omid died, and the spider bit her and gave her superhuman powers. Clem knew she had to use her new powers to help people, and to protect them. But that's just another thing on top of everything else. How much can one girl take before it all crashes down?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yooo i've been workin on this for a while. or, i worked on it for a while, then kinda... let it sit, and then edited it. creds for this au go to clemjavier on tumblr, this is kinda a combination of her spider-clem au and high school au. of course, ive taken a few liberties, switchin around a little here and there to fit this kinda fused au.
> 
> fyi this isn't like... a spiderman homecoming au, either. i wrote this before that concept was brought up on that blog, and while i think it's neat (and totally fits, i love vi as mj and gabe as liz tbh), i'm really not in the mood to completely rework this. also i looked up softball terms nd shit for this bc the only sport i play is soccer, so... let me know if i'm gettin anything wrong here!
> 
> ive got Big Plans for this au, let's see how much of em i actually end up writing lmao
> 
> so yea! hope people like this! :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just general day in the life of Clementine/Spider-Woman.

If you’d asked Clementine a month ago what she spent her time doing, she’d tell you that she was usually either studying for some test, at practice or a game, babysitting her neighbor’s kid, or hanging out with her best friends. You know, typical stuff. If you asked her now? Well, all that plus… whatever this was.

She was thrown against a car, denting the hood. She made a note to leave an apology or something on a sticky note as she sprang to her feet and swung back toward her assailant. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel bad for whoever’s car that was, it was just… well, she was fighting the St. John brothers. Again. For some reason, they just didn’t want to stay in jail. This was the second time this week they’d gotten out and, of course, gone straight for her. Well, not really, but since she’d made her first appearance as a superhero, they’d been showing up in public to get her attention. Clem guessed it was kind of working, since she did keep taking their bait, but they also kept getting put back in jail. One thing was for sure, whoever was in charge of keeping them in jail was doing a shit job.

She’d have left money for the owner of the car as well, but it wasn’t like she kept cash in her suit. She hoped the apology would suffice. Or…

“Okay, I’m not paying for that, so you’d better have robbed a bank or something before this to pay for this guy’s new car. Or at least pay for a new hood,” Clem said, kicking Andy St. John in the face. Andy and Danny were your stereotypical, garden variety thugs hopped up on radiation. They’d already been wanted criminals before they got their powers, but now they were even more of an annoyance. Clem did appreciate the change of pace from her usual muggers and petty thieves, though. At the very least, fighting the St. Johns was stimulating.

“Jesus, do you ever shut up?” Andy growled, charging toward her. Clem had caught Danny in some webs a block down, and judging by the approaching sirens, he’d be back behind bars soon. Hopefully they can keep him there for more than three days, their previous record, this time.

“Actually, I don’t. Haven’t you noticed?” Clem said, quickly punching him in the face and dodging his retaliation. Andy groaned loudly.

“You think you’re the shit, don’t you? You think you’re fuckin’ hilarious... Well you ain’t. You’re pathetic,” He said. Clem knocked him backwards into a wall, quickly webbing him. She dusted her hands off on her suit as Andy struggled against the webbing. Clem turned to walk away, but Andy called after her.

“What, you’re gonna… you’re fuckin’ walkin’ away from me! One of these days, you’re not gonna be able to walk away… we’ll get you, and I can tell you this… we ain’t gonna walk away like fuckin’ cowards!” Andy shouted, clearly spitting mad. Clem didn’t turn around, used to this from the brothers. Still, as many times as she’d defeated them, she couldn’t shake the feeling of unease she got imagining what would happen if she… well, there was no use dwelling on that. Anyway, she had to get to school soon, she had a math test today, not to mention baseball practice in the afternoon. But she was forgetting something.

She didn’t carry cash in her suit, but she did have a couple sticky-notes on her from a school project that she’d done a while back. She’d forgotten about the project and done it last minute on the roof of some office building. She’d panicked and stuffed the sticky-notes and a pen into her suit. She still had them, and quickly scribbled out an apology before sticking it on the car’s hood. The sirens drew closer, which Clem took as her cue to leave.

She quickly scaled the nearest building and watched from above as the police reached Andy. Satisfied with his capture, she began to swing between buildings in the direction of the alley on the outskirts of the city where she’d left her backpack and clothes. She dropped down discreetly next to a dumpster. Thankfully, her bag was still there. Someone had stolen her bag once, and since then she’d made more of an effort to hide her things when she went… spidering.

Clem quickly changed out of the suit in the alley, the dumpster acting as a shield between her and the passers-by. She knew that if anyone looked behind her cover, she’d be in some serious trouble, but it wasn’t like she had time to change at home, not that she’d want to be spotted in her suit anywhere near her actual home. She had to be at school in an hour, meaning she had to get out of Atlanta, quick. The brothers had really held her up today. Or rather, the police had taken their sweet time getting over there to back her up. Just because she was around didn’t mean they had to stop doing their fucking job. Honestly, the police in this city…

After changing into her regular clothes, Clem tossed her suit into her backpack and swung it onto her shoulder, before jogging back out of the alley. She’d found a shortcut into and out of the city when she’d first decided to use her powers, and since she only lived a little ways from Atlanta, she could usually move around relatively easily. She told Christa she was going on a jog (technically sort of true), went into the city and fought crime for a few hours, and then made it back before the first bell.

Clementine began her jog through the woods just outside of Atlanta that lead back to her town, periodically checking her watch. As she drew closer, she recognized the scenery around her better, before finally making her way out into a neighborhood she recognized. Unfortunately for her, this neighborhood was almost completely across town from the school. Of course, she knew about this beforehand, having done the same thing multiple times, but still, she would’ve liked to get a water break.

Sadly, time didn’t allow for this. Water would have to wait. She made her way across town as fast as she could, and finally reached the school. God, this whole thing would be so much easier if she could web-sling her way through town, but it was safer to change in Atlanta. Plus, if someone spotted the Spider-Woman in a little town outside of Atlanta, it would be a hell of a lot easier to track her down. Pretty much nothing except actual crime would be able to get her to don the good old mask outside of Atlanta. No, she’d have to continue going it on foot.

She reached Ericson High School more than a little bit sweaty. Yeah, she was athletic, but she’d just run a hell of a lot after fighting superpowered assholes, not to mention she’d done all of that in the Georgia heat. She’d gotten to school with almost ten minutes to spare, but she still had to make it to class before the bell rang. Clem quickly made her way down the hallway as it emptied, until she was one of the last few kids not in class. She reached her first period room right as the bell rang, walking in panting slightly and with her head down. Mr. Everett stopped her by his desk.

“Cutting it close, Clementine,” He said quietly, so as not to draw too much attention. Clem looked at him sheepishly.

“Sorry, Mr. Everett,” She said. He smiled warmly.

“It’s fine, you’re on time after all. I just want to make sure you keep that up. You’ve been getting to class later than usual these past few weeks,” He said.

“I know. I’ve been… doing stuff before school, and it’s kind of taking over my early mornings. I’ll be sure to get to class sooner though,” She said. Mr. Everett raised an eyebrow, amused.

“Doing stuff?”

“I… yeah. Stuff. Jogging, and… stuff,” Clem said. Mr. Everett shook his head with a smile.

“Alright, Clementine. Stuff. Go take your seat,” He said, and Clementine quickly slid into a chair next to her friend Gabe. He smiled at her.

“Hey, Clem.”

“Morning.”

“Running a little late today, huh? What’d Everett have to say?” Gabe asked, scooting closer to Clementine. Clem scooted away, and Gabe pouted at her. It was no secret among their friends that when Clem and Gabe had gone through their shared emo phase in middle school (although, could anyone really say Gabe’s phase had ended?), Gabe had quickly developed a crush on Clem. Clem had let him down gently, but he’d sulked for a solid week and a half. Now, Gabe’s past crush on Clem was mostly a joke within their friend group. Every time Gabe did something like give her his pudding at lunch or laugh at something Clem said a little too loud, it was turned into a joke. Clem smiled at Gabe, and scooted back toward him.

“Sorry. Um, he was mostly making sure I kept getting to class on time. Which I did, by the way. I wasn’t late,” Clem said. Gabe shrugged.

“You were late for you. Actually, you’ve been… somewhere else these past few weeks. What’s up?” He asked. Clem’s eyes widened. He knew about her trips to Atlanta?

“What?” She asked quickly. Gabe frowned.

“I mean… you’ve clearly been dealing with… something. Is it…” He trailed off, unsure of how to breach the subject, but Clem knew what he was trying to say. Well, at least he didn’t know about her double life as Spider-Woman. She sighed deeply.

“You mean Omid? I… sort of. I’ve been going on jogs, to… clear my mind and shit. You know? It was really hard to convince Christa to let me go out after what happened, so now that I persuaded her, I’m taking advantage of it. I guess I’ve been going out farther pretty much every morning, so it’s taking me longer to get back. Which is why I was almost late today,” Clem shrugged. Gabe nodded.

“Okay. Well… if you ever want a jogging buddy… okay, you know I’m kinda shit at running for too long, but I’m sure Duck’d go with you. Or Sarah, if her dad would actually giver her permission to leave the house in the mornings. And I’m always here to talk, if you need it. Or even if you just want to talk. It doesn’t have to be a need. I mean-“ Clem cut him off with a smile.

“I get it, Gabe. I appreciate it, and I know I can count on you all. But I think being alone helps too, you know? I don’t usually get enough time to think, and, well… I’ve had a lot to think about recently,” She said, and felt a little bad about lying. But it was to protect him, she reminded herself. He was safer if he knew nothing about her double-life. Gabe nodded thoughtfully.

“Yeah. I get it.”

Clem tuned into what Mr. Everett was saying after that. She always liked history. Her dad had loved history. So had Omid. She had always thought they would have liked each other. Her dad had always said that history was what connected everyone, because everyone had some shared history, either personal or before they were born. His eyes had always lit up telling Clem his favorite stories from history. He always said that sometimes, real life was crazier than fiction. She had to agree. Sometimes, a radioactive spider bites you, and suddenly, you’re taking up the responsibilities of being a superhero. Sometimes, life is just like that.

Omid had liked history in a different way. Whereas Clem’s dad’s eyes had lit up when he was talking about history, Omid’s entire being had. He was an enthusiastic guy, but especially about the things he loved. Everyone showed enthusiasm regarding what they loved, but Omid was special. He had a special energy that he brought with him places. It made you feel more alive somehow. Funny. He was so lively, and yet…

Soon, the bell rang again, and Clem was off to math class. She’d never been great at math. She pretty much excelled in every other class with little to no effort, but Clem actually had to work to get good grades in math. She hadn’t been looking forward to the math test at all. She hadn’t had as much time to study for this one as she’d wanted, having had to cut a little time out of her life to make room for the St. John’s. Honestly, she might take the St. John brothers over geometry. Okay, maybe not, but still, Clem definitely didn’t love math. Thankfully, she had her childhood friend, Duck, in her math class. He grinned widely at her as she took her seat.

“You ready for the test?” He asked. Clem groaned, planting her face on the table. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“I’m too tired for this shit,” Clem grumbled, lifting her head up off of the table. Duck’s expression quickly turned to one of concern.

“How much sleep did you get last night?” He asked. Clem shrugged.

“Um…” She said sheepishly. Duck fixed her with what was probably meant to be a stern gaze, but didn’t look intimidating at all coming from Duck. He was practically a walking teddy bear.

“Clem…”

“Like… five hours? Maybe a little more than that?” She said.

“Clem!”

“I couldn’t sleep! And I got up early to go jogging,” Clementine explained. Duck shook his head.

“Dude, you need to sleep. I’m tired as hell and I got eight full hours. Set your alarm a little early, take a shorter jog,” He suggested. Clem shrugged.

“Maybe.”

“Not maybe. Say you’ll do it, Clementine.”

“I can’t promise you anything.”

“Uh, yes. You totally can. It’s easy, all you’ve gotta say is ‘yes, Duck, I’ll get up a little later from now on, because sleep is important’! See? Not hard at all. Now, you say it,” Duck said. Clem shook her head. She figured that stopping Andy and Danny St. John from killing innocent civilians was slightly more important than her getting a little more sleep, but she couldn’t exactly tell Duck that. She rolled her eyes.

“I promise I’ll try my best to get more sleep tonight,” She said. Duck, seemly satisfied, smiled at her.

“Alright, good,” He said. The teacher came around with the tests, and soon, the room was quiet as everyone focused on math. Clem groaned internally as she marked the third question in a row as one to go back to. She thought again about how she usually prepared better for math tests, but she hadn’t had as much time recently with both more frequent practices and having to take on the responsibilities of heroism. Or was it vigilantism? Depending on what paper you were subscribed to, it was either one.

The only paper Clem read religiously was the Ericson Weekly, the school newspaper. It was run by the journalism and media teacher, Carley Miller, and a kid in Clem’s grade, Aasim. He was in her English class. He was smart and witty, and he was an excellent journalist. Honestly, the Weekly was the only paper that she trusted wasn’t completely corrupt. Of course, that was a lot more likely with a school newspaper, but it was exceptionally good for a school paper. It had reported on the Spider-Woman when she’d first shown up a few weeks ago. Aasim had run a column on why she was a hero, and definitely one that the world, or at least Atlanta, needed.

Clementine liked Aasim, even if she barely talked to him outside of class.

She liked Carley as well. Clem was taking journalism and occasionally wrote for the Weekly as well, so she’d gotten to know the woman pretty well. Clem liked Carley almost as much as she liked Mr. Everett. For one thing, she let kids call her by her first name, which by default made her cooler than most of the other teachers. Plus, she was just… good. She had also put in her two cents on the Spider-Woman. She’d said that when the police aren’t equipped to handle something, or aren’t doing their job, it’s probably best for someone else to step in. The way the system’s set up, it’s pretty hard for someone to… get in there. But the Spider-Woman had managed to do it. She’d added that the police definitely weren’t prepared to handle superpowered criminals, and that it was best that a superpowered hero was stepping in.

That was what Clem thought as well.

But it wasn’t just superpowered criminals that Clementine wanted to take down. It was more about protecting the little guy. Nobody had been there to protect her parents. Nobody had been there to protect Omid. She couldn’t let something like what happened to them happen to anyone else when she could stop it. That was why she’d decided to don a mask and a secret identity and become the web-slinging Spider-Woman.

Carley and Aasim seemed to get it.

It was… weird to hear people talking about her, though. And plenty of people did. Apparently, she was interesting to people, which wasn’t really the point, but it was… strange. She’d gone into full panic mode the first time the Spider-Woman had been brought up among her friends. They’d been at Gabe’s house, hanging out with his sister and his Uncle Javi. Javi’d been the one to bring up the Spider-Woman, and Clem was pretty sure her heart had stopped for a second. Thankfully, her friends had all pretty much been supportive of her (even if they didn’t know it was her). Of course, Duck thought superpowers were “sick”, and Sarah liked that someone was out there using their powers to protect people rather than hurt them. Gabe seemed to not really care, but Clem had caught him arguing with someone on the internet about how Spider-Woman was a hero. Or really, how she was a hero. It was still really wild hearing her friends talk about her without knowing that they were talking about… her.

She hadn’t told them about her powers because she didn’t want them to get in any trouble because of it. If they knew, and she made any powerful enemies, they’d be able to use her friends against her. Clem couldn’t let that happen. She wasn’t letting anyone else get hurt because of her, especially her friends.

She finished her test and turned it in to the teacher just as the bell rang. After math, the rest of morning went by quickly. Spanish was mostly uneventful. She liked Spanish since it was taught by her neighbor and Gabe’s cool Uncle Javi. Javi was funny, and liked to tell jokes in class. After Spanish was art with Luke, another one of her neighbors. She got special privileges to call both Javi and Luke by their first names, because, well, she’d been calling them Luke and Javi since she was a kid. It would just be… weird to stop. As soon as art was over, Clem made her way to the cafeteria. She got her lunch and sat with her friends.

Duck and Gabe were arguing about something ridiculous, so Clem decided to talk with Sarah until they inevitably got tired of… whatever it was they were fighting about. She thought she heard something about a fistfight and Duck’s dad? Clem didn’t even try to understand their arguments anymore. It wasn’t worth it getting involved every time they got like this. Every day they were arguing about something even more wild and nonsensical than the day before.

“Hey, Sarah,” She said, smiling at her friend. Sarah smiled back.

“Hi, Clem. How was your math test? Duck said it was hard,” Sarah said. Clem shrugged.

“Yeah, well you know I’m not really a math person. You’ll probably do really well,” She said. Sarah grinned at her.

“Aw, thanks. I’m sure you did well, though. You usually do.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I didn’t study as hard for this one though. I haven’t really had time, with practice and everything,” Clem said. Sarah’s expression turned to one of confusion.

“Really? Usually you… make time.”

“I don’t know, I guess I’ve been kind of overwhelmed,” Clem said. Sarah nodded.

“Okay, I get it. If you ever want to come over to my house and study with me or something, you can totally do that. I mean, I’d have to ask my dad first, but he loves you, so he’d probably say yes,” She said. Clem smiled. She appreciated her friends’ concern, really, but this didn’t really seem like something she could get their help with. She was just going to do what she usually did, and make even more time. Still, it was a little hard focusing on her math when she was worrying about the St. John brothers busting out of jail again. What if they got out when she was in school? She couldn’t exactly just run out of school and get to Atlanta before things went to shit… It was a half hour jog to get there, but it was only a five minute drive. If she just had a car…

But Duck was the only one she knew with a car. She couldn’t exactly borrow it whenever with no explanation, could she? No, if the St. John brothers tried to get her attention during school, she’d be pretty screwed. Unless the police decided to actually do their job, but they hadn’t showed any sign of doing that since she’d shown up.

“Yeah, I might take you up on that,” Clem said. She wasn’t gonna turn down any time with Sarah, even if what she really needed was more hours in the day.

“Clem, back me up here!” Gabe said. Clem raised an eyebrow.

“Back you up on what? I wasn’t listening,” She shrugged. Duck rolled his eyes.

“He said that Javi could beat up my dad in a fight,” He said. Clem and Sarah shared a deadpan glance.

“Seriously? That’s what you’ve been arguing about for the past five minutes?” Clem asked.

“Ten, actually. They’ve been at it since I got here,” Sarah clarified. Clem sighed.

“That’s even worse. But it doesn’t matter who’d win,” She said.

“What?” Gabe asked, he and Duck sharing a confused glance.

“Christa’d come in and wipe the floor with both of them,” Clem grinned. Duck and Gabe glanced at each other, before shrugging.

“Okay, probably,” Duck admitted.

“Definitely.”

“Fine, definitely.”

“Oh, guys! My dad says you can come over to my house this weekend!” Duck said. He was the master of abrupt subject changes. He began to ramble, and Clem mostly tuned out of the conversation, nodding occasionally. Her eyes wandered behind Duck, to another table in the corner of the cafeteria. A boy in a heavy, fleece lined trenchcoat was talking animatedly to a girl who was slouched against the wall, clearly disinterested. Louis and Violet. They were in Clem’s grade. Violet was one of those loner-types, and Louis was one of those people who just… did what he wanted, and didn’t really give a fuck what other people thought. He was in her English class, and he was overwhelmingly positive. Violet was also in her English class, and she seemed… well, not negative, but definitely not positive.

However, she also seemed not to care what people thought. Maybe that’s why she and Louis got along. Or perhaps more likely, Louis just took a liking to her. Clem could see why, though. Violet was quiet, but when she had spoken up, she’d been pretty funny. Not the Duck kind of funny, the subtle kind. With Duck, his jokes slapped you in the face. Clem liked Duck’s jokes, of course, but Violet’s were just a little more up her alley. They were closer to the kind of jokes she’d make.

And Violet also had the nicest eyes… and arms… she had really, really nice arms.

Okay, so maybe Clem had a little crush on her. But honestly, who could blame her? There was just something about the way Violet leaned against the wall in gym like she didn’t want to be there (and she probably didn’t), or the way her eyes lit up just a little when she made a sarcastic comment in class. Or maybe it was the jackets… Clem was a sucker for jackets. Honestly, what is it about jackets that makes people look about ten times more attractive?

“Hello? Clem, you with us?” Gabe asked. Clem blinked. Oh, she’d totally zoned out.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“What’re you looking at anyway?” Duck asked, turning around. As soon as he saw Louis and Violet, he turned back around. “Oh, dude. You’re so in deep.”

“Duck…”

“I mean, seriously. You’ve had a thing for her since… forever. Since she moved here.”

“He is kinda totally right…” Sarah frowned. Clem groaned.

“Look, what am I supposed to do about it? These things don’t just… go away because you want them to,” She said. Gabe rolled his eyes and leaned toward her, propping his chin on his hand.

“Clem. Speaking from experience here. You’ve got two options. Either you man up and ask her out, or you find someone else. Or, I guess you can do nothing and change nothing. Your pick.”

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna go with option three then.”

“Clem…”

“Look, trust me. There’s no way she likes me back, so I’m not gonna humiliate myself by asking her out,” Clem said. Gabe, Duck, and Sarah sighed collectively.

“Are you kidding? Like, everyone in this school who’s into girls would love to get with you, Clementine,” Gabe said.

“Lucky me, I’ve managed to find the one person who isn’t into me, then. Look, Violet’s never shown any interest in me. Just… can we talk about something else?”

“Clem-“ Duck started, but Gabe cut him off.

“Lay off, Duck.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Clem said, shooting an appreciative glance at Gabe, who smiled back at her. Duck began to talk about some TV show he was watching, and Clem listened idly until the bell rang. She and Sarah both had English after lunch with Mr. Collins. They took their seats and waited until the class began. Sarah doodled on the borders of her notebook while Clem stared at the doorway, watching her classmates enter. Louis and Violet entered together, and Clem’s eyes followed them as they took their seats. She continued to stare at the back of Violet’s head until Sarah nudged her firmly. Clem snapped back into reality, shooting Sarah a grateful glance. It would’ve been really awkward if Violet caught her staring. She usually kept herself from staring for too long, but she was super tired today and had totally zoned out.

The class began. Clem liked Mr. Collins. She didn’t like him as much as she liked Mr. Everett, but she definitely enjoyed his class. After English, she had economics, which was boring as fuck. Honestly, she wouldn’t take that class if it wasn’t a requirement to graduate. At least she had one of her teammates in that class, though. She sat with Brody, and they made dumb jokes to distract each other from whatever they were supposed to be learning. Clem got most of it, and what she didn’t get, she could catch up on later. She found it was easier to teach herself the material than to try and understand what the teacher meant.

After Econ was journalism. She took a seat and began looking for an article to analyze. After a minute, Carley stopped behind her desk. Clem looked up.

“Hi, Carley,” She said. Carley smiled at her.

“Hey, Clem. What’re you working on?”

“Oh, I’m looking for an article to read and analyze for the assignment you gave us.”

“Finding anything?” Carley asked, glancing at Clem’s screen. Clem shrugged.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure which one I want to use.”  
“Can I see?”

“Sure,” Clem scooted her chair back and let Carley look more closely at her screen.

“How about this one?” Carley asked.

“Which one?”

“This one, on Spider-Woman.”

“Oh, I wasn’t actually considering that one,” Clem said. Carley glanced at her.

“Really? You’re one of my only students who hasn’t done some sort of assignment on her yet,” She said. Clem thought quickly. She hadn’t wanted to do any sort of a project on herself (okay, that was a weird thought), but maybe it would be less suspicious if she did.

“I mean… I don’t know. I think she’s cool, I just don’t get all the hype around her. She’s using her powers to help people. It’s what most people would do,” Clem said. She wondered if it was ever going to get any less weird talking about herself like that. Carley looked at Clem, but her sharp gaze always made it feel like she was looking through her. It made Clem a little nervous.

“Well, so far, most of the people who’ve wound up with powers haven’t used them to help people. They’ve used them for their own benefit. That’s why some people are suspicious of someone with powers using them for good, and it’s why the rest are pretty much idolizing her. It’s something new.”

“I guess so. I could do my assignment on her, actually,” Clem said. Carley shifted.

“Actually, I was hoping you could do… a little more,” She said.

“Hm?”

“Well… you’re one of my best students. You’re an excellent writer, and you clearly think about things in depth. I’d love for you to write a piece for the Weekly on Spider-Woman,” Carley said. Clem was a little surprised.

“You want me to? But… you already had Aasim write one. And you wrote one yourself.”

“Well, those were Aasim’s thoughts, and then my own. I’d like to hear your thoughts. And it’s not like anyone’s getting tired of reading about Spider-Woman anytime soon. Like I said, she’s something new, she’s got novelty.”

“I… okay. I’ll do it,” Clem said. She wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to write for the Weekly. She wasn’t going looking for one, but it was a measure of faith in her that Carley sought out her specifically for this piece.

“Thanks, Clem,” Carley smiled.

“No problem.”

“I’m gonna let you get back to your work, but let me know if you need anything.”

Clem decided she’d analyze a Spider-Woman article after all. Not the one Carley had pointed out, since it seemed like most other articles she’d seen so far. She scrolled through, skimming over the titles. Nothing really stood out. On page three of results, she finally saw one that gave her pause.

‘Why Does Spider-Woman Have A Mask?’

Well, because she didn’t want to be identified, of course. Why else? Clem clicked on the article. According to the author, it was actually because she was planning on committing some huge crime after gaining the favor of the public. Clem snorted. This person clearly misunderstood her motivations. It kind of stung, but it was expected. A lot of people didn’t really trust people with powers. It was like Carley had said, they weren’t used to people using their powers to help other people.

She wrote a quick response that basically explained that some people like to look out for and help other people, and then began to organize her thoughts for her own piece on herself. Soon, the bell rang and she made her way to her last class of the day, gym.

She got changed in the back of the locker room with Sarah and they made their way out to the gym. They found Duck and Gabe by the bleachers that were folded against the wall. Duck was talking to his teammate, Marlon, while Gabe picked at the skin around his fingernails awkwardly. When Clem and Sarah showed up, Marlon nodded at Duck and walked off.

“Hey, guys,” Sarah said.

“Hey. Ugh, was it just me, or was Econ really boring today?” Duck asked.

“It’s boring everyday, Duck,” Gabe said.

“Yeah, but it was, like, extra boring today.”

“I wouldn’t know, I totally wasn’t paying attention,” Gabe shrugged. Clem laughed. All of her friends liked different classes, but none of them liked Econ. Clementine’s eyes wandered to the opposite corner of the gym, where Violet and Louis were talking. Louis was saying something, waving his arms animatedly. Violet rolled her eyes and replied, and Louis lit up. He was pretty cute. If Clem wasn’t in so deep with Violet, she might have had a thing for Louis.

Gym class began with warm-ups. First they did push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and stretches, then they ran laps around the gym. By the time they were done, Clem still hadn’t broken a sweat. They were in their soccer unit, so Duck ran off to grab a ball for them to kick around while Gabe, Sarah, and Clem stood idly. They passed the ball for the whole period, talking and occasionally attempting “fancy tricks”, although only Sarah and Clem could pull those off. Duck and Gabe pretty much made fools of themselves.

After gym, Clem changed and got ready for practice. Today was a Tuesday, which meant she had baseball practice. Tuesdays and Thursdays she had baseball practice, Mondays and Wednesdays were soccer days, and Fridays, she had off. She loved all three sports, but baseball was probably her favorite. She loved her soccer team, but baseball was definitely her favorite sport to play.

She got her stuff and made her way back outside to the field where practice was held. Lilly, her coach, and a couple of her teammates, were already there. Lilly greeted her with a smile.

“Hey, Clem.”

“Hey,” Clem nodded to her coach as she swung her bag down at the side of the field. She partnered up with Ruby and tossed the ball back and forth to warm up. Soon, the team was doing drills, and after that, Lilly announced a scrimmage. Clem’s team was batting first. She watched as her teammates made their runs, and then it was her turn. She stood at the plate, positioning herself. She nodded to Becca, who was pitching, to signal that she was ready. Soon, the ball flew toward her. She swung the bat solidly, and didn’t hesitate before running for the first base.

Clem liked running. Jogging was nice, but running for a short period of time, really fast? That was one of her favorite feelings. She made it to first base, kicking up dust, and seeing that she’d hit the ball way out, made for second.

She made sure she wasn’t going beyond the speed she’d been at before the spider bite. She didn’t want to use her superpowers for personal gain. Well, maybe she did use them around Atlanta for fun, because… it was basically like flying! Who wouldn’t want to feel that? But in her sports… she’d always believed in fairness. Sure, life wasn’t fair. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t be.

She made it to second, and still, she could tell she had time to go for another. She slid towards third base. She looked around. She couldn’t see the ball anywhere, but the pitcher wasn’t holding it. Clem ran for home plate. She heard heavy footsteps behind her and jumped to reach the final base. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion around her as her foot finally touched the plate. She’d made it. Damn, this never got old, did it?

Clem’s teammates clapped her on the back and she took her place back in the lineup to catch her breath. She took a sip of her water and glanced out across the field. She squinted. There was someone leaning up against the bleachers. Who was it? She’d seen some creeps lurking around practices before, and usually she’d just let her coach know and they’d go sort it out. But upon further inspection, the person across the field wasn’t some weird stalker. It was Violet. What was she doing watching their practice? Wait, she’d just seen Clem’s entire run. Clem flushed further.

She hadn’t messed up, had she? No, it’d been a good run. Did Violet like baseball? Clem was pretty sure she didn’t, she’d overheard Violet once, telling Louis that sports were dumb. Maybe she was just waiting to get picked up? Yeah, that was probably it.

Clem played the rest of the scrimmage well, but not quite as well as she had her first run now that she knew Violet was watching. Clem felt Violet’s gaze even when she most likely wasn’t watching her (it wasn’t like Clem could stop and check). She stumbled a couple of times, but it was nothing noticeable. Well, it wasn’t noticeable to anyone but her.

After practice was over, Clem said a quick goodbye, grabbed her backpack, and jogged across the field. As soon as she started, though, Violet quickly walked off. Clem frowned. So she hadn’t been waiting for a ride, after all. Maybe she just… secretly liked baseball? Whatever, it wasn’t really Clem’s concern. She walked the rest of the way home, thinking up reasons Violet had been at practice despite herself.

“Hey, Christa,” Clem said as soon as she stepped through the doorway, turning around to lock it again.

“Hi, Clem. How was school?” Christa asked. She sounded tired. She looked tired, too. She’d been like this since Omid had been killed. Clem couldn’t blame her. Omid had been… well, he hadn’t been like a dad to Clem, he couldn’t replace her father, but he was more like a really close uncle. But he’d been a light in both of their lives. He The only difference between Clem and Christa was that Clem had plenty of other lights. Christa had pretty much only had Omid and their cat that had died a couple of months before Omid had.

“It was good. Carley wants me to write a piece for the Weekly,” She said. Christa smiled, but it was forced.

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah,” Clem said, swinging her bag onto the bench by the door and moving to the kitchen to grab a granola bar. She ate the granola bar quickly, and then took her bag again before heading upstairs to do homework. She was halfway through her math homework when the door opened suddenly. Clem spun her chair around.

“Hi?”

“Hi, Clem. We need to talk,” Christa said. Clem frowned.

“Okay.”

“You… since Omid… passed, you’ve shut yourself off from me, Clementine. I don’t know how to reach you, you’ve been… you hide out in your room all evening, and then you get up in the mornings to go on these jogs and I don’t see you at all. I… I can’t… I’m alone, Clem. It’s like I lost Omid and you at the same time…” Christa said. Clem swallowed hard. She hadn’t realized, but the extra load she’d taken on from being Spider-Woman had gotten in the way of her relationship with Christa as well.

“I… Christa, I’m so sorry… I had no idea. I’ll spend more time with you, I promise,” She said. Christa’s expression hardened.

“You will. Because I don’t think you should be going on your morning jogs anymore, Clem.”

“What?” Clem asked, switching from understanding to defensive. Her jogs were a cover for her vigilantism, and when else could she go out to Atlanta? Not during school, obviously, and definitely not after school, since she had homework.

“I just… I still don’t think it’s safe, and I miss that little bit of time we spend together in the mornings. I think it’s for the best,” Christa said. No, it definitely wouldn’t be for the best. Clem had to go out during the mornings, people’s lives were at stake. She frowned at Christa.

“Look, I get it. You want to spend time with me. I can do that! I’ll do my homework downstairs, it’ll be nice! But please, let me keep going on jogs.”

“Clem, it’s not just the jogs. People do bad things in the night and early morning… I just want you to be safe,” Christa frowned. Yeah, well, Clementine wanted the city of Atlanta to be safe, and if it was one’s safety over the other, she’d put Atlanta’s safety over her own. Of course, she couldn’t tell Christa that. She panicked, searching for something she could actually say.

“I think you’re just being paranoid.”

“What?”

“You’re paranoid because of what happened to Omid. That’s not gonna happen to me, Christa. I’m careful. I can handle myself. Please, these jogs are important to me,” Clem snapped. Christa looked at Clem, growing angrier.

“Clementine. This isn’t about Omid-“

“Of course it’s about Omid! We wouldn’t even be having this conversation if Omid hadn’t-“

“Stop.”

Clementine paused, realizing how heated the conversation had grown. She shouldn’t have mentioned Omid, no matter how angry she’d gotten. Christa’s face crumpled, and Clem hated herself just a little in that moment.

“Christa, I’m so-“

“Don’t.”

“I…”

“Don’t, Clementine. You know what? You can handle yourself so well? Fine. Prove it. What would you do if someone pulled a gun on you?”

“Christa-“

“No, Clem, you brought Omid into this, tell me what you have going for you that he didn’t. Tell me.”

Well, for one thing, she had superpowers. But she couldn’t tell Christa that.

“I… I’d put my hands up. I’d cooperate with them. Give them what they wanted,” Clem said finally. Christa shook her head and laughed humorlessly.

“You think Omid wouldn’t have done that? If he-“

“If I hadn’t been out there too, right. If I hadn’t gone out that night, he wouldn’t have been looking for me. I get it Christa, it’s my fault he’s dead,” Clementine said and for a moment both her and Christa were silent, glaring at each other, tension hanging heavily in the air. In a split second decision, Clem grabbed her backpack and pushed past Christa.

“Where are you going?” She called after Clem as she sped down the stairs.

“Out! Don’t bother coming after me,” Clem said, not waiting for a response before storming out and slamming the front door shut so hard that it shook the frame. She wondered for a moment if she’d disturbed the neighbors. She hadn’t been that loud, right? When none of the neighbors’ lights turned on and nobody came out to see what the commotion was, Clem decided she was probably fine.

What now? She hadn’t exactly thought through what she was going to do, just that she needed to get out, needed to breathe. She could go on a walk. Clem remembered what had happened the last time she’d gone on a walk at night, and she felt a pang of guilt. She knew Christa blamed her for what happened to Omid, and she kind of did too. Tonight felt a little like that night, with her storming out after a fight…

Clem suddenly regretted coming outside. She couldn’t really go back in right away, though. She had to give Christa a little time to cool off. She shrugged off her nerves and stepped out into the night.

It was just a walk. It was no big deal. Plus, she could handle herself with her powers if necessary, like she’d wanted to tell Christa. Not that she’d need to use them. She made her way down the street quickly. She didn’t really have an idea of where she was going, she was just walking away. She walked past Rebecca and Alvin’s house. She often babysat their son, AJ. He was a cute kid. Clem passed Luke and Nick’s house. She’d known them since she was a kid. She’d played with Nick and Luke and Nick’s Uncle Pete when she was a kid and they came to Kenny’s barbecues. She’d gone to Luke and Nick’s wedding a few years back, and it was one of her favorite memories.

She passed Bonnie’s house next. Bonnie sometimes had Clem over to take care of her cats when she was vacation, or just to talk. Bonnie was interesting to talk to. She seemed worn and warm, like she’d seen a lot, but had come out a better person for it. Next to Bonnie’s house was Mike’s. Mike was quiet and kept mostly to himself, but he was friendly enough. He and Bonnie talked often, though. A lot of the time, one would be at the others’ house. Clem often speculated that there was something going on between the two, but it wasn’t really her business.

Clem crossed the street that lead toward Gabe’s house. If anyone would be able to make her feel better right now, it’d be Gabe. He had a temper, and he had a lot of experience blowing up at people who he loved. Plus, both Duck and Sarah were probably already asleep, so there was no use going to either of them.

The streets were eerily quiet. Some of the noise from Atlanta carried with the hot, steady wind, but the town felt empty at night. Usually, that gave Clem comfort, but she was oddly on edge tonight. She picked up her pace. The sooner she got to Gabe’s house, the better.

The closer Clem got, however, the more her feeling of unease grew. She paused, looking over her shoulder. She didn’t see anyone, but the tingling down her spine didn’t subside. She suddenly felt the urge to change her direction. But that didn’t make sense. She was going to Gabe’s house. She shook her head and continued walking, but the feeling she had was unbearable. Clem gave in.

“Fuck it,” She said, and turned down a side street, letting her instincts lead her. Maybe this was some sort of… spider thing? Spider-sense? She took note of her surroundings as her feet carried her into the now silent center of town and then past it. Once she realized where she was going, she almost turned around right then. She was heading toward the abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town.

The adults in her life had all warned her to stay away from the warehouse, since it was probably not structurally sound and on top of that, it was a common spot for the more shady populace of the town. Clem paused outside. Should she really go in? Her gut was telling her yes, but her common sense was screaming at her to run. She frowned. If she was going to go in, she didn’t want to be recognized in case she had to use her powers. At least, she didn’t want to be recognized as Clem. She pulled her Spider-Woman costume out of her bag. She’d designed and created it herself after Omid’s death. She’d spent six days locked in her room, planning her superhero identity. It had paid off.

She quickly changed into the costume and stashed her bag behind a dumpster. The building was far enough from the rest of town that nobody would see her. As soon as she’d hidden her backpack, she leapt up and onto the wall. She crawled along the side of the building until she found a window that was slightly open, and crawled through it. Once she was inside, she could hear voices. It sounded like people arguing from behind a closed door.

Clem took a deep breath and crawled most of the way down the wall and dropped down softly. She made her way to the door, pausing outside. She didn’t know these people. Despite her… spider-sense leading her here, she couldn’t just barge in. Maybe it was a… friendly argument? Okay, so maybe not, but maybe there was nothing she could do. Like two family members arguing or something. Clem pressed her ear against the door.

“-swear, I won’t tell anyone I saw you here!” The person on the other of the door sounded scared, and Clem tensed. Their voice also sounded… familiar, but Clem couldn’t pinpoint where she’d heard it.

“I’m sorry, kid, but you’ve got yourself into some deep stuff by bein’ in the wrong place at the wrong time… It ain’t nothin’ personal, but you seen too much. We gotta get you out of the way,” It was another voice, this one also familiar. Clem spent a moment trying to remember where she’d heard them both, when a third person spoke up and Clem’s blood ran cold.

“‘Sides… I think you’re a liar. You seem like you got morals, and they ain’t seem to align with ours.”

Clem knew who two of the voices belonged to. Those were the St. John brothers. What were they doing here? And who else was in the room with them? It didn’t matter, all Clem knew was she had to stop the brothers from hurting whoever else was in there with them. She didn’t hesitate in kicking the door open and charging into what appeared to be a small office to confront the brothers.

“Do you guys seriously break out of jail every day or something? Who is in charge of keeping you locked up? Can I get a full name so I can make a complaint and get them fired? And hopefully replaced with someone who’s actually competent,” Clem asked, kicking Danny in the shins.

“Oh fuck me, it’s her!” Andy shouted. Clem tried to shoot a web at him, but he dodged it with a smirk. “Thought you caught me there, didn’t you? Well it’s gonna take a lot more than that to-”

Clem didn’t bother replying to his comment, simply charging at him and throwing him into the wall. They collided with a rusted filling cabinet, which gave a heavy thud as it toppled to the side. Clem got two solid punches in before being pulled off of Andy by his brother. She turned to punch him in the face, faltering as she saw who was behind him, a shocked expression on her face.

Violet.

Of course.

Of course Violet would be in this fucking abandoned warehouse. And of course the St. Johns would be here for who the fuck knows why, and of course her weird powers would lead her to them (okay that part was definitely good), but now she was fighting two supervillains with her crush in the room. The moment it took for the shock to set in was enough time for Danny to hit her hard enough that she practically flew into the wall.

Clem pulled herself back up to retaliate. This was her second fight today, and she was a little worn out. Well, third if you counted her argument with Christa. God, Christa… she was definitely going to apologize to Christa as soon as she got back home, she’d been way out of line. Sometimes, Clem mused, all you need is a possibly lethal fight with some supervillains to put everything in perspective.

Then again, she wouldn’t be able to fight supervillains if Christa didn’t let her out… She dodged a hit from Andy. She currently had bigger fish to fry, like not getting herself or Violet killed. She kicked Andy in the chest and he stumbled back. She webbed him quickly, and then turned to Danny.

“Hey, it- it ain’t gotta be like this!”

“I think it does,” Clem said.

“No, it ain’t. You an’ me… we ain’t like the rest of folks… we can do what most people can only dream of doin’… and if you ain’t takin’ advantage of it, I say you ain’t deserve it,” Danny spat.

“I am taking advantage of it,” Clem said. She didn’t like Danny grouping her with himself and his brother. She wasn’t anything like them.

“Not like we are. Look at us. Now look at… her. To her, we’re… we could be gods… people like her, they’re pathetic!” Danny yelled. Clem shook her head.

“I think people like you are the pathetic ones, Danny,” She said, preparing to web him. But before she could, Violet stopped her.

“Let me.”

“Um-“ Clem tried to say something, but before she could continue, Violet had grabbed a coatrack and hit it over Danny St. John’s head. Okay, that was weirdly… hot. Violet did it a few more times, and Danny crumpled to the ground. Clem webbed him for good measure.

“I, uh… thanks,” Clem managed. Violet nodded, slightly out of breath.

“No problem. Thank you for, you know, swooping in and saving my ass.”

“It’s what I do.”

“Well, still… thanks,” Violet said, crossing her arms. Clem stood for a second, unsure of what to say.

“Do you, uh… you need a ride?” She asked, immediately cursing herself for her awkwardness. Violet looked at her, surprised.

“You have a... Spider-Mobile or something?”

“Not a Spider-Mobile, but the webs are pretty good for swinging around,” Clem shrugged. Violet’s eyes widened slightly.

“Your suit come with a passenger seat?”

“I could… carry you?” Clem suggested, her heart pounding. She was offering to carry her crush home, and her crush wouldn’t even know it was her. This whole thing was crazy. Violet considered her offer.

“I… okay, but only because I’m super tired and I don’t want to walk,” Violet said. Clem nodded.

“Yeah, the near death experiences do that,” She said. Violet cracked the tiniest smile, and it warmed Clem’s heart. She did that! She made Violet smile! Technically it was Spider-Woman and not Clem who’d made that joke, but… still.

“Makes sense. So, uh, do I just…” Violet stepped toward Clem. Clem frowned.

“Um, I could hold you with this arm, and… yeah, use this one to move around,” She said, looping one arm around Violet and holding her against her side. Okay, this was weirdly intimate. Clem could feel her face flushing under the mask, and Violet seemed slightly embarrassed as well, but she wasn’t backing out yet=.

“Alright… you sure you won’t drop me?”

“Positive,” Clem said, although she’d never actually done this before. Obviously. She’d only been Spider-Woman for… about a month. Actually, a little less than a month. She hadn’t really had much time to… carry people around. Still, first time for everything. She took a breath, getting a running start and aiming for the ceiling. Clem used the web to swing through the window, and held her breath as they soared outside and landed in the grass.

“That’s… that’s pretty cool,” Violet said softly. Clem nodded.

“Yeah. Tell me about it,” She said. She glanced at where she’d stashed her bag. She couldn’t go get it now, could she? She’d come back for it later. She had to let the police know about the brothers, too. It was going to be a long night. Clem used the trees to swing forward. “So, what were you even doing in there?”

“Oh, I… I go there to think. It’s quiet. Mostly,” Violet said. Clem nodded.

“Assuming today was the exception.”

“One of them. Sometimes people have their parties there, the kind they can’t really have at home, so it can get kind of overwhelming then. Usually if I see that people are already there, I just turn around, but I didn’t think anyone was there today. They wern’t the usual crowd, who make themselves pretty obvious. When I saw them, they’d already seen me, so…” Violet trailed off.

“What were they even doing?” Clem asked.

“I think they were setting up some kind of base there? I don’t really know.”

“Makes sense they’d pick an abandoned warehouse. And just outside of Atlanta’s smart, they’re close enough to the city to get in and out, but it might take a while for people to figure out that they aren’t actually staying. Where’s your house?”

“Oh, you can just drop me off at the high school. Ericsons. It’s just in that direction,” Violet pointed. Clem knew her way. She swung over quickly, jumping across a few roofs before dropping down on the field.

“Here you go. Have a safe walk home,” Clem said, nodding to Violet. Violet smiled softly.

“Yeah, thanks. You too. I mean… have a safe… swing… home. To wherever Spider-Woman lives, I guess,” She said. Clem shrugged.

“Thanks,” She said. She would’ve liked to make sure Violet got home safely, but she had to get the police on the St. Johns before the webbing wore off. Clem could’ve gone all the way to Atlanta, it wasn’t that long a walk… or swing, but she really didn’t want to be seen by too many people, plus the webbing might wear off before the police got back. Then she’d be in trouble. Luckily, she knew exactly who to go to.

Five minutes later, she was knocking on the front door of one David Garcia. The guy honestly scared Clem a lot, but he was the one guy who Clem knew could take care of the St. John brothers for sure. He was good at his job. The door swung open and revealed a disheveled David, rubbing his eyes. He blinked when he saw her in the doorway.

“Spider-Woman?” He said blearily. Clem nodded.

“Uh… yes sir. According to my information, you’re a police officer in the area?” She said, making an effort to deepen her voice. David nodded, shocked.

“Yes, that’s… I’m a police officer.”

“Good. Well, the St. John brothers got out of jail again, and I apprehended them at an abandoned warehouse just a short ways from here. The webs should dissolve in about an hour and a half, so that’s plenty of time to get them secure. They’re in an office off to the side. I think I did a number on the door, it should be easy to spot,” She said. David nodded again.

“I- okay. Yeah.”

“Alright, well it was great working with you. Good luck with the brothers. Oh, and could you get someone more competent to keep them locked up this time? It’s getting annoying how often they break out. I mean, I know you’re not working in Atlanta, but surely you have some influence, I’ve heard you’re a pretty great officer after all. Anyway, I’ve gotta get going. So… bye,” Clem said, shooting off a web and quickly making her way back to the warehouse to grab her bag and change before the police got there. It only took her a few minutes to get back and changed, and then she made her way back through the neighborhood. God, Christa was going to be worried sick.

Clem reached her house and took a deep breath. It was better to get the apology over with. She stepped toward the door and pulled it open gently. She didn’t see Christa in the living room, and she couldn’t hear her moving upstairs.

“Christa?” She called into the quiet house. Clem was met with silence. “Hello?”

She took another step into the hall, and moved through the main floor. Once she’d circled back to the living room, she turned around, only to come face to face with Christa. Clem screamed.

“Christa, you… you scared me!” She said after she had caught her breath. Christa frowned sternly.

“Well, you scared me. Storming out like that…”

“I’m so sorry, I… I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I’m really busy right now, with school and sports and everything, and the jogs help me clear my head for a bit. I guess it kind of felt for a second like you were trying to take that away, and I blew up at you. I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m sorry,” Clem said. Christa nodded, considering this.

“I get it. Everyone has their own ways to process things, and I can’t keep you cooped up in here. It’s not fair. You can keep going on your jogs, as long as you’re safe, and I’d really like it if you did your homework downstairs, like you suggested. You shouldn’t have reacted the way you did, but neither should I. You… know I love you, right?”

“I mean, yeah. Of course, Christa,” Clem said. Christa nodded slowly.

“Alright, good. Good. Because I’m afraid… I feel like recently, I haven’t been showing you that I love you. I don’t blame you, you know? For what happened to… what happened to Omid. I blame the woman who shot him, and I blame myself a little bit for letting him go out alone. But I don’t blame you, Clementine.”

Clem swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Christa.”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry too. Come here,” She said, and Clementine stepped forward and into Christa’s arms. The two embraced for a moment. They would always be missing a little something without Omid, but they still had each other. Clem resolved to spend more time with Christa in the afternoons.

“Alright, I think it’s time for bed now. You’ve had a long day,” Christa said. Clem nodded.

“Yeah, I am pretty tired. Night Christa. I love you,” She said, before climbing the stairs to her room. She dropped her back by the doorway and changed into pajamas, barely staying conscious while she brushed her teeth. Damn, a day really could take a lot out of you. Clem collapsed into bed and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clem's #smooth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi here's another chapter :) hope you enjoy!

“You guys are never gonna believe who visited my dad last night!” Gabe said, bouncing on his feet. Clem hadn’t gone into Atlanta since she trusted David Garcia to keep the St. Johns locked up for one lousy night, so she was able to walk to school with her friends. Plus, she’d been pretty worn out after the previous day, and had gladly taken the opportunity to sleep in a little longer.

“Let me guess… was it your uncle?” Duck asked. Gabe looked at him incredulously.

“What? No! It was…” Gabe paused for dramatic effect.

“Spit it out!” Duck said impatiently. Gabe rolled his eyes.

“Fine, It was the Spider-Woman.”

Clem didn’t really know how to act when her friends brought up Spider-Woman. She was definitely interested in what they thought about her alter-ego, but she didn’t want to seem like she was too interested, because that might be suspicious. She also didn’t want to seem unnaturally uninterested, given that pretty much everyone else was obsessed with her. It was a tricky balancing act to keep up, and Clem was teetering on the edge, one step from dropping everything and making a huge mess.

“No way!” Sarah said, eyes widening.

“Your dad?” Duck asked skeptically. Clem focused on the cracks in the sidewalk, listening intently.

“Yeah, my dad!”

“Like… David Garcia?”

“That is my dad, Duck.”

“You sure you’re not talking about a… different… dad?”

“Duck, I don’t know what to tell you. If you’ve been under the impression I’ve been hiding a secret second dad from you since we met, you’re more of a lost cause than I thought was possible.”

“I just… why?”

“Spider-Woman found the St. John brothers in that old warehouse and let my dad know they were there so they could get taken care of,” Gabe said.

“No, seriously. Your dad? There are a lot of other, more capable dads in this town, Gabe. Like my dad.”

“Your dad isn’t a police officer, Duck.”

“He could be! If he wanted. But dad doesn’t like cops… no offense, Gabe,” Duck frowned. Gabe shrugged.

“None taken. Mine doesn’t like redneck football coaches,” He said. Sarah and Clem both snickered, and Gabe looked satisfied with himself. Duck frowned for a second before making the connection.

“I… hey!”

“You say shit about my dad, I say shit about your dad. It’s just how it works,” Gabe said. Duck glared at him.

“But you say shit about your dad all the time!”

“Yeah, he’s my dad, I get to do that. You can say whatever you want about your own dad, Duck.”

“I… Okay,” Duck shrugged. Clem and Sarah shared a knowing glance. Often, the two boys got in the stupidest arguments. A lot of the time, either Kenny, Javi, or David was involved. Whenever one of their arguments was just… too much, for whatever reason (usually too ridiculous), Clem and Sarah had a look that they gave each other. It conveyed something along the lines of ‘yes, we really are friends with these dorks’.

“Did you get to see her?” Sarah asked. 

“Who?” Gabe asked, having forgotten the original conversation. Clem rolled her eyes.

“Spider-Woman?” She clarified, though she already knew the answer. Gabe shook his head.

“No… she woke my dad up and left in a hurry. I did get to see the St. Johns though. Dad took me down in the cruiser. He made me stay inside, but I did get a look at them as they got carted off from the warehouse… they were all webbed up, and one of them, Andy, turned and looked straight at me until he got put in the truck.”

“Did not,” Duck said disbelievingly. Gabe nodded. Clem frowned. She didn’t like that Andy had noticed Gabe. She didn’t like that he’d noticed Violet, either. She’d do her best to make sure that the brothers didn’t get anywhere near either of them again. She’d make sure they didn’t get anywhere near anyone she cared about, for that matter. The brothers were not the sort of people you’d want around… well, anyone, especially people you’d prefer didn’t die a premature death.

“He totally did. His eyes were, like, electric green. I could see them from five feet away,” Gabe said.

“That is totally not true! It was dark, how did you even see his eyes?”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s a… superpowers thing? I don’t know? Does Spider-Woman have cool glowing eyes?”

“How should I know? She wears a mask, it’s not like I’ll get the opportunity to get a good look at her eyes,” Duck said. Clem almost snorted. She and Duck had had staring competitions every day for a month in third grade. She ended up making a weird, strangled cough noise, and Sarah looked at her strangely.

“Sorry. Cough,” Clem said. Sarah nodded.

They ended up discussing Spider-Woman the rest of the way to school. They arrived about twenty minutes early, so naturally, they continued to talk about her for ten of them. It was an agonizing conversation for Clem. There were so many little comments she wanted to make, but couldn’t. It kind of hurt that she couldn’t talk about this with her friends, but she reminded herself yet again that it was all to keep them safe. As soon as the first bell rang, warning that class was about to start, Clem practically bolted away from her friends. Gabe had to jog to catch up.

“Hey, what gives?” He asked, slightly out of breath.

“Hm?”

“Why’d you skirt like that?”

“Oh, um… my head was hurting and I wanted to get to class so I could put my head down,” Clem lied. She couldn’t explain that she’d left so quickly because the conversation had been kind of uncomfortable for her, because she couldn’t explain why it was uncomfortable, so she had to lie. Again. God, being a superhero with a secret identity was just a lot of lying, wasn’t it? Lying and near death experiences and an ungodly amount of homework, because apparently some things don’t change for anyone. Even superheroes have a crapload of homework.

“Oh. You could’ve gone to the nurse,” Gabe offered. Except she didn’t have a headache. She just hated keeping secrets from her closest friends.

“Uh. Yeah, I could have. Guess I’m a little out of it.”

“Alright, well… anything feels weird, go to the nurse, alright? Promise?” Gabe asked. Clem appreciated his moments of concern for her. He didn’t show his softer side as often as Duck or Sarah did, but when he did, he could definitely be… sweet? Adorable? Something like that. She nodded.

“Will do,” She said as the pair stepped into history and took their seats. Clem smiled at Mr. Everett, who smiled back warmly as he stood up and began the lesson.

* * *

When Violet had told Louis that Spider-Woman had saved her from the St. John brothers the night before, she hadn’t noticed Becca Keurig leaning against a locker across the hall. She hadn’t known that Becca was listening to their conversation, not even paying attention to the phone she appeared to be looking at intently. In fact, Becca’s phone was actually locked and she wasn't looking at anything but a blank screen.

By lunch, the news had spread around the school that Violet had been saved by the masked hero. Aasim had already tried to interview her for the Weekly, and she’d not so kindly told him to fuck off. Honestly, how hard was it to leave her alone?

Apparently, very hard. Practically the entire school had something to say to her about the whole situation. Some people wanted to know details about Spider-Woman. How tall was she? Was she a good fighter? What did she sound like? Violet wasn’t too keen on answering those, and anyway, they could probably just google the answers. Others asked about the St. Johns. She wanted to answer those questions even less. As much as she'd tried to appear unfazed by her close call with the brothers, the entire situation had her unsettled. If it hadn't been for Spider-Woman... well, Violet didn't really want to think about that. Still other people accused her of making the whole thing up for attention, Becca included.

She’d had stormed up to Violet halfway through the lunch period, one of her nervous-looking friends in tow. Louis had moved to confront her, but Violet stopped him, getting to her feet instead. She could handle Becca Keurig. The girl’s last name was a fucking coffee maker. Which, okay, didn’t actually say anything about the girl herself, but Becca definitely didn’t scare Violet, and her last name was kind of just the icing on the cake.

“You made up that stupid story about Spider-Woman so people’d talk to you!” That definitely didn’t make sense, because she’d only told Louis about her near death. Becca was the one who was telling everyone and their dog that Violet had met Spider-Woman. Plus, she clearly liked being left alone. The guy she’d told to ‘fuck a wooden spoon’ when he’d asked her how big Spider-Woman’s breasts were could attest to that. She was about to say as much when, across the cafeteria, Clementine Parker stood up from her seat and began to walk toward them with long strides. Violet froze. The room quieted a little as people took notice of the commotion. Becca, who couldn’t see the girl who was quickly approaching, sneered at Violet.

“What is it? You scared to admit you made it up so someone actually notices you? Or maybe it's wish fulfillment for you, meeting Spider-Woman’s probably some sort of weird fantasy of yours. I bet you want her to-“ Clem tapped firmly on Becca’s shoulder, and the girl spun around, face stained with annoyance. “What?”

“Hey, Becca? Can you stop being a bitch for like, a day?” Clem asked. Becca swallowed hard, realizing her mistake. You couldn’t talk shit to Clementine Parker. She was Ericson’s favorite student. Kids and teachers alike respected Clem. And it wasn’t because she was a bitch, no, Clem didn’t rule by fear. She was on top because she was just a genuinely good person. If anyone ever said that you can’t get anywhere being nice, they clearly hadn’t met Clementine. She was a straight-A’s student, captain of the school's soccer team and baseball team, and she babysat people’s kids in her free time. She volunteered at the local animal shelter on weekends, and she was just… good.

She was practically the opposite of Violet. Violet was sulky and antisocial. She’d tried to be like the Clementines of the world, once. But it hadn’t worked out. She always ended up saying or doing the wrong thing and getting booted to the sidelines again, so Violet had stopped trying. She had grown into her position on the outside, pressed against the walls. Before she could let people down, she pushed them away. Louis was the only exception, and he had been very persistent. He probably could have been like Clem. He was bright, charming, cheerful. He did well in school. He played baseball, and he was pretty damn good at it. He could’ve hung out with whoever he wanted. He probably could’ve been friends with Clem.

Instead, he chose to spend time with Violet. She’d never tell him, but she was glad he’d stayed by her side.

Still, Clem was smart, athletic, popular, and basically everything else Violet wasn’t. It was no wonder Violet had a huge crush on her. Okay, pretty much everyone had a crush on Clementine. Even Louis had a crush on her. They talked about Clem sometimes, and how pretty her eyes were. Of course, Louis was one of those guys who gets crushes easily, so he also gushed about Clem’s friend Gabe, and that guy on the football team with the dead animal on his head. Violet had only really felt the way she had about Clem once before, and that… hadn’t ended well.

“I’m sorry, Clementine, I didn’t know it was you-“

“Why am I any different than anyone else? You wouldn’t say shit like that to me, why would you say it to Violet?” Clem asked angrily. Most of the cafeteria was staring at the two girls now.

“Well, I mean, she- she’s clearly lying about seeing Spider-Woman. What the fuck would she even be doing here?” Becca said defensively, trying to backtrack. Clem scowled. Honestly, she could pull it off and still look good.

“I happen to know that Spider-Woman was in town last night, actually. She visited Gabe’s dad. And it still doesn’t give you an excuse to say what you said afterwards. Even if Violet had been lying, which she wasn’t, you shouldn’t have said that,” Clem said angrily. Becca glared.

“Whatever,” She said. She looked like she wanted to say something else but shook her head and stalked off. Clem turned and addressed Violet for the first time.

“Hey, sorry about that,” She said. Violet frowned.

“Why are you sorry?” She asked, then winced. That had come off a little harsher than she’d meant it to. But Clem didn’t seem to mind.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d want someone to step in. I figured you could handle yourself, of course, but I couldn’t just not do anything.”

“I… thanks. I appreciate it,” Violet smiled faintly.

“What can I do to make it up to you?” Clem asked. Violet blinked.

“What?”

“Like, can I make up for this whole… scene? I don’t know, I feel really bad that this happened in the first place,” Clem shrugged. Violet shook her head.

“No, seriously, you did nothing wrong. You got Becca to leave me alone, I really appreciate it,” She said. Clementine considered this.

“At least let me buy you lunch or something,” Clem said. Violet frowned. She didn’t want to say yes and make Clem pay for her or something, because Clem didn’t owe her anything. If anything, Violet owed Clem. But she also wanted to spend time with Clem. Who knows, maybe something more could come of them hanging out. Or not. Violet considered the best way to proceed.

“Okay. I’ll get lunch with you. But I can pay for my own food,” Violet said, and then panicked. How was she going to hang out with Clem one on one? What would they even talk about? “And can Louis come?”

“Sure! I can invite my friends too, make it a thing. If you’re comfortable with, of course.”

“That sounds good,” Violet smiled. Clem beamed back at her.

“Does this Saturday work for you?” Clem asked. Violet nodded. “Alright. Um, do I have your number?”

“I don’t think so,” Violet said. Clem pulled out her phone, put in her password, and handed it to Violet.

“You can put in your number and I’ll text you so we can make plans,” Clem said. Violet quickly typed in her number, heart pounding. She was putting her number into Clementine fucking Parker’s phone so they could make plans to hang out, and it wasn’t even for school! Okay, she needed to chill. It was probably just a one time thing. But maybe… no. No, it was best not to get her hopes up. She handed the phone back to Clem.

“Alright, so I’ll text you?”

“Sure,” Violet said. Clem smiled widely at her, and Violet could swear her heart actually skipped a beat.

“It’s a date then! I’ll see you on Saturday,” She said, before quickly turning and heading back to her table.

A date? Of course, Clem probably meant it as in they’d set a date, seeing as their friends were also going to be there… Louis looked at Violet with a knowing look.

“Vi, oh my god.”

“I know,” Violet grumbled as she practically fell back into her seat, overwhelmed. What had just happened?

* * *

What was Clem thinking? A date? God, her friends were going to make fun of her for this for months. Maybe years. Okay, probably years. They still hadn’t gotten over the Sarah had cursed during drama class, and she didn’t need to mention Gabe’s crush on her. Stuff like this was quality teasing material for ages. She walked back to her table and sat next to her friends without saying a word, hoping they wouldn’t ask her what she’d said to Violet. Her friends all looked at her expectantly.

“Well?” Duck said.

“Well what?”

“What happened back there?”

“You probably heard, I was being pretty loud,” Clem shrugged. She knew that wasn’t what he meant.

“You know what I mean, Clem. What happened after that?” Duck asked. Clem shrugged.

“Oh, you know. I asked her to go to lunch with me,” She said. Sarah’s head swiveled toward her in surprise, and both Gabe and Duck choked on their food.

“You what?” Gabe said loudly. Clem shushed him and looked around to see if anyone had heard. Satisfied that no one had, she turned back to Gabe.

“I asked her if she’d get lunch with me to make up for the whole scene with Becca. She said yes, but she asked if Louis could come, so I said yes of course, and said I’d invite you guys,” She said. Her friends still seemed to be in a state of shock, and Clem was tempted to roll her eyes. It really wasn’t that big a deal.

“Oh, I’m definitely not missing this,” Gabe said. Duck nodded with a wide grin.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“When is it? I’ll have to ask my dad first,” Sarah said.

“This Saturday.”

“Okay, thanks,” Sarah said. Gabe laughed.

“I still can’t believe Clem manned up and asked out Violet,” He said. Clem frowned.

“It wasn’t like… a date thing,” She said.

“It could’ve been,” Gabe countered.

“Yeah, but she invited her friend. Pretty sure that’s not a date thing,” Clementine said. Gabe shrugged.

“Whatever. She still totally likes you. She was probably just nervous,” He said. Clem frowned.

“I’ve told you guys before, she definitely doesn’t like me.”

“And we’ve told you, she definitely does. She’s always staring at you, but she looks away when you look in her direction. She was clearly super into you when you came over to talk to her today, her face was all, ‘holy shit, I can’t believe my crush is actually talking to me’. Look, I know what having a crush on Clementine Parker looks like. That girl has it bad for you, man,” Gabe said. Duck nodded sagely.

“Yeah, she does. You’re kinda really bad at telling when people have crushes on you.”

“Psh, no I’m not. I knew that Gabe liked me!” Clem said defensively.

“Only after he told you. He’d been following you around like a lost puppy for months before that, dude,” Duck said.

“Hey!” Gabe glared at Duck, who only shrugged in response.

“What? It’s true?”

“Okay, so I didn’t know Gabe had a crush on me until after he told me. So what? I knew about that Adam kid!” Clem said. Duck laughed.

“Clem, buddy. My good friend. Adam was even more obvious than Gabe. I’m pretty sure he has a lock of your hair stored somewhere,” He said. Sarah frowned disapprovingly.

“Hey, Adam was sweet. He wasn’t the most…”

“Tactful,” Gabe offered.

“Right. He wasn’t very tactful, but he wasn’t… creepy or anything,” Sarah finished. Clem nodded. Adam had been a sweet kid, and she’d been flattered when he’d asked her out, but he’d been in, like, seventh grade when he’d asked her out, and she’d been going into freshman year. So that definitely wasn’t happening.

“Yeah, basically what Sarah said,” Clem said. Duck raised his hands in defeat.

“Okay, sorry. Point is, you… kinda have to have someone walk up to you and tell you they like you, or completely follow you around, for you to actually get it through your weirdly thick skull that they do, in fact, like you. And no offense, but Violet doesn’t really seem like the type of person who does stuff like that,” He said. Clem considered this, but her doubts kept surfacing.

“What if you’re wrong? What if I… do ask her out, and she doesn’t like me?” Clem asked, voice a little shaky.

“I’m not wrong.”

“Duck…” Sarah warned.

“Alright, fine. Clem, I can pretty much guarantee that she likes you, and I think you’d both be a lot happier if you just got the guts to ask her out, but nobody’s gonna force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Duck sighed reluctantly. Clem smiled faintly.

“Thanks.”

“Of course. Even if I’m about ready to ask her out for you…”

“Duck,” Sarah repeated.

“Kidding! I’m kidding, geez. Leave a guy alone,” Duck said. Gabe grinned.

“See the problem is, it’s just so hard not to. You’re so fun to mess with, dude,” He said, and the conversation thankfully shifted away from Clem’s crush. Still, Clem couldn’t deny that Duck had a point. A couple of points, actually. She did have a hard time believing people actually liked her, and Violet didn’t really seem the type to confess to a crush she’s barely talked to. But hey, they were going to hang out later, so that was something, at least. Maybe they’d hit it off. Or, maybe it’d be awkward as fuck. Well, only time would tell.

After lunch, Clem had English with Sarah. And, of course, Violet and Louis. She and Sarah got to class early, and when Violet and Louis walked through the door of the classroom, Clem shot them a small smile. Violet’s eyes widened as if she hadn’t expected Clem to actually acknowledge her, while Louis grinned widely at her and elbowed Violet in the ribs. Violet quickly glared at Louis before smiling back at Clementine. Okay, she was adorable. They both were, if Clem was being honest. Sarah shot Clem a look.

“So?” Sarah asked. Clem glanced at her.

“Hm?”

“I didn’t want the boys to keep bothering you, but I guess I’m curious too… are you gonna, like… make a move or something?” Sarah asked. Clem’s eyes widened.

“What? No!” She said, perhaps a little too loudly, as a few eyes were drawn to her. She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “Seriously, I’ve barely talked with her outside of class.”

“So? You’re talking to her now. Or at least you’re talking to her on Saturday. Say you guys hit it off, which you totally will by the way. What then?” Sarah asked. Clem frowned, considering this. If Saturday went well, and if she and Violet did get along, maybe they’d hang out more. They could become friends. And maybe, eventually, something more could blossom between the two. But… would it really be safe for Violet to be that close to Clem? The more people who were close to her, the more people were in danger. Was it selfish of her to want something between her and Violet?

Okay, probably. But… Clem could keep her safe. And if Violet ended up wanting it too…

“We’ll see, okay?” Clem said, and Sarah squealed happily. Clem hushed her, quickly glancing around to see if people were watching them. Satisfied that nobody was eavesdropping, she looked back at Sarah. “We’ll see means we’ll see, Sarah. So don’t get excited yet, okay?”

“Okay, okay, sorry. You guys would just be great together!” Sarah said. Clem flushed.

“I… thanks? I think?”

“But like Duck was saying, none of us are going to make you do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“You guys are the best,” Clem said. Sarah smiled at her.

“Yeah, we know.”

“Ms. Parker, Ms. Reyes. Class has started,” Mr. Collins said, and the girls turned their attention to the teacher. After an absolutely riveting class on Oedipus, and another Econ class that nearly put Clem to sleep, she was back in the Journalism room, continuing to outline her Spider-Woman piece. She’d decided to write about how Spider-Woman showcased the good nature in most people, which, okay, was kind of self-absorbed, but only if you knew that Clem was Spider-Woman. Which nobody but Clem knew. So it was probably fine.

Clem did think that anyone had the potential to do the sorts of things she did, even if it was on a smaller scale. Most people had some good and some bad in them, and when she was Spider-Woman, she was trying to pull out and use the best parts of herself to help others. She hoped she was inspiring others to do the same. Clem was halfway through her first paragraph when she got an idea. Most articles about Spider-Woman had been using the same twenty-odd professional photos of her that had been circulating. But if she could stage a picture… well, her article would stand out from a lot of the rest.

“Mind if I take a look at what you’ve got there?” Clem spun her chair around, startled. She’d been so deep in thought that she hadn’t heard Carley come up behind her.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” She said. Clem moved out of the way to let Carley look over her outline and the first paragraph. She was mostly quiet as she read, and Clem couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Carley turned back to Clem after a moment.

“Clem, this is… really good,” She smiled, and Clem beamed back, glad that Carley had liked her ideas. “It’s definitely a unique angle. I’ve seen a lot of different opinion pieces on why Spider-Woman is good or bad, but most of them recycle the same ideas. This is new. I knew I made the right choice asking you to take on this article.”

“Thank you, that means a lot,” Clem said, trying not to let her excitement show. Carley nodded.

“Of course. I look forward to reading the rest of it when you’re finished,” She said, before heading off to check on someone else. By the time the class was over, she was almost finished with her rough draft of the article. She saved her work and headed to the locker room to change for gym. She met her friends by the bleachers. Duck was ranting about Econ again. Gabe and Sarah were nodding along, but both seemed minimally interested in what he was saying. Judging by how intently Gabe was looking at his fingernails, they were more interesting to him than whatever Duck was saying. He immediately perked up upon seeing Clem.

“Oh, hey Clem!” He said.

“Hey, guys,” She smiled.

“How was journalism?” Sarah asked, attempting to steer the conversation away from Duck’s hatred of Econ. As much as the others were bored by the class, there were only so many different ways a person can say ‘I hate Econ’.

“Oh, it was chill. Actually, Carley’s having me write a piece on Spider-Woman for the Weekly.”

“Hey, maybe you could interview Gabe’s dad!” Duck said, half-joking. Gabe glared at him.

“Shut up.”

“No, I’m serious! Kind of,” Duck snickered, apparently finding the idea of Spider-Woman seeking out David Garcia very, very amusing.

“Duck!” Sarah scolded. Duck raised his arms in surrender.

“Sorry! Sorry, damn,” He said. Gabe shrugged.

“Whatever, dude. Anyway, I heard from Justin that we’re doing the push-up test today,” He groaned. Duck, of course, fist pumped. Sarah didn’t seem to care, and Clem was busy mildly panicking. She’d gotten used to not overdoing her strength in her sports, but every new physical activity was a puzzle. How many push-ups could she do before the spider had bitten her? How many more could she have realistically done after having been active for months? How good would her form have been? It took her a moment to notice that someone was trying to get her attention.

“Clem? You okay?” Gabe asked.

“What? Oh, yeah! Yeah, I’m good. Just… you know, headache,” Clem shrugged. Gabe frowned.

“I told you to go to the nurse if that came back,” He said. Oh, shit, he had.

“I just figured I’d stick it out. It’s not too bad,” Clem said. Sarah frowned.

“Are you gonna come to practice?” She asked. Clem had forgotten about practice, which was definitely saying something, since sports were basically the most important thing in her life. Well, besides her friends and family, and school was important too, and now she had her responsibilities as Spider-Woman… okay, so she was dealing with a lot, and maybe she was spreading herself a little thin, but it wasn’t like she could just… drop any of that stuff. She couldn’t. She just had to adapt. Clem forced a smile.

“Yeah, of course! I’ll take an aspirin or something,” She said. Sarah smiled.

“Okay, great! But if you really don’t feel good, promise you’ll go home.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s really not that bad, but if it gets worse, I’ll do that,” Clem said. With her friends seemingly satisfied, the conversation moved on to which fitness test was the worse. Duck didn’t like the trunk lift, because he wasn’t very flexible. Sarah and Gabe both disliked the push-up test, although Gabe didn’t really like any of the fitness tests. Clem didn’t really mind any of them, especially with her powers, but if she had to pick a least favorite it’d be the sit-up test.

“Alright, today we’re gonna be doing the push-up test. Yeah, I know, fitness tests aren’t the most fun, but once we’ve got them over with we can go back to soccer. Everyone partner up and choose who’s gonna go first, then find a place around the edge of the gym,” The gym teacher, Mr. Greene said. He was a younger teacher, and his class was pretty fun if you liked sports. He also tried to use some games similar to ones Clem had played in elementary school or at camp to liven things up or something. Clem partnered with Gabe and Sarah with Duck. Gabe volunteered to go first to “get it out of the way”, and Clem sat down to watch him. She was sitting between Duck and Brody, who was partnered with Ruby.

The audio for the test began to play, and Gabe sighed as if he were actually about to die. Clem gave him an encouraging smile as the test began. He had good form, Clem noted. He did one perfect push-up, and then another, before standing up.

“That’s two, I’m done!” He said. Clem laughed.

“They were good push-ups,” She said. Gabe grinned, satisfied.

“I know! I’ve been practicing, you know, on my wall. One hundred a day. But I’ve only been doing it for three days, so…” He shrugged. Clem smiled.

“Still, good job,” She said. They watched as Ruby got to thirty six push-ups and immediately ran off, presumably to get water. Duck made it to ninety two push-ups, and was the last man standing. Once he stopped going, the audio was turned off, and Clem switched places with Gabe. She decided she’d go to one hundred push-ups, if only to one up Duck. She knew he’d been trying to get a hundred. The audio started, and Clem was in the zone.

It was weird, doing stuff like this and not even getting tired. She wasn’t breaking a sweat at sixty push-ups. It wasn’t fair, and she felt bad, but… well, what else could she do, really? She wasn’t going to just… not take the test. That wouldn’t be fair either.

As soon as she reached one hundred, she lowered herself onto her knees, and the audio was stopped. So she was the last one standing. Duck gave her a clap on the back as they went to report their scores to Mr. Greene.

She had soccer practice afterward, and she and Sarah got their stuff and made their way to the soccer field together. Their coach, Molly, was already waiting there, but they were the first ones out on the field. She and Sarah passed the ball back and forth to warm up. Soon, the rest of the team had arrived, including Becca. That was kind of awkward, but Becca didn’t seem like she was about to bring up what had happened at lunch, so Clem wasn’t going to either. The entire team began doing drills, and after that, Molly announced a scrimmage. Clem was playing forward, not that the positions were really set in stone during the scrimmage.

The other team started with the ball. Brody passed it to Ruby, who passed it back to Brody. Brody attempted to run past Sarah, who was playing defensive midfield, but Sarah managed to kick the ball through Brody’s legs. Clem sprinted to catch up with it, and after having made contact, ran with it, pouring on even more energy as she ran. She was past the defenders now, with only Mari, Gabe’s little sister, who was playing goalie, between her and a goal. A ways out from the goal she made her shot into the corner of the net. Mari leapt to the side to stop the ball, but it just brushed past her fingers as it flew into the net. Clem checked that Mari was okay, before jogging back to her side of the field, high fiving her teammates.

After the scrimmage, which Clem’s team won, they headed over to Molly, who usually had a couple of things to say after a practice.

“Great job, girls! Now I was seeing some good things out there, and a couple things we’re gonna want to work on next practice, but it’s late, so I’m gonna let you get home,” She said. Clem grabbed her things and said goodbye to her team, before jogging across the field to the sidewalk. The sky was overcast, and the air was sticky and cool. It felt like it was clinging to her, and it was clear it was about to rain, so she hurried up. She was halfway home when she heard a low, loud, rumbling noise. She looked up just in time to see one of the buildings on the Atlanta skyline emit a bright blue light before exploding. Her eyes widened. What the hell had just happened? She wanted nothing more than to get home, but this seemed like something Spider-Woman would have to handle. And she was Spider-Woman.

“…Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i'm not as happy with this chapter as i was with the last one. i've been prettyy sick this past week lmao, and superr tired. so. i'll probably come back and edit this one haha. but hey! i'm pretty sure it doesn't suck, so...
> 
> anyway, comments and kudos are much appreciated, thanks so much for reading!! have a fantastic day all :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clementine meets a new adversary and reveals her identity to a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM BACK
> 
> so ep 3 was a whole fuckin thing wasn't it?? anyway i've got ideas again so have thIS
> 
> yea hope yall enjoy!!

By the time Clementine had reached Atlanta, her legs had started to ache. She cursed herself for wearing herself out at practice earlier, but in her defense, she had no way of knowing that today would be the day that someone decided to blow up part of Atlanta. On the plus side, Clem thought, she’d gotten in her cardio for the day for sure. She stopped by a trashcan to catch her breath, but before she could, a second blue pulse appeared above the city. Apparently weird blue explosions waited for no one.

Clem sighed, making her way down the sidewalk. She was shoved on all sides by people trying to get away from the strange explosions, but a concerning amount of people were standing on the curb and just… recording the explosions. Clementine was all for documenting this stuff, but she’d rather the civilians were as far from danger as possible. Well, Clem figured that was what she was there for. To ensure the people’s safety while recording shit that could kill them.

She shouldered her way through the crowds, ducking into the first alley she saw. Clem shrugged off her backpack, pulling out her suit. Clem stepped into her Spider-Woman getup, nearly tripping over her own feet as she did so. After avoiding falling on her face, she webbed her backpack to the dumpster and quickly scaled the wall next to it.

Clementine pulled herself up onto the roof and hurried to the far side to survey the city. She could tell that whatever the blue light was, it was more dangerous than anything she’d faced before., judging by the smoking hole in one of Atlanta’s most prominent buildings. It was probably superhuman in origin, or some sort of crazy hopped up weapon. So far she’d only fought human criminals and the St. Johns, who were the most human superhumans around, but whatever this was… facing it was going to be a challenge. Her stomach twisted.

She swallowed her doubt and leapt off the roof. She would figure out what to do when she got there. Probably. Clem was good at thinking on her toes.

As she made her way through Atlanta, she noticed fewer and fewer people on the streets below her. That was good, Clem thought. The fewer people were around for the inevitable confrontation, the better. There was no getting around the massive property damage that resulted from her fights, but at least people wouldn’t get hurt. Or, no more than had been caught in the initial blast. Clem shuddered at the thought. She swung around a corner and came face to face with the remains of the semi-destroyed building.

She touched down in front of a smoking pile of rubble. So this was it. There was no sign of the source of the blast, or anyone else for that matter. Clem moved through the wreckage with her guard up, looking for any sign of life. Shit, looking at the damage up close, it was... brutal. Clem felt sick to her stomach as she saw a hand sticking out from under a giant piece of concrete. Looking around, she saw nothing but more bodies and more wreckage. She pressed forward, the silence deafening.

“Okay, no. You don’t do hopeless. You’re- you’re Spider-Woman. There was nothing you could have done for these people, but there’s got to be some who didn’t get hit. Who’re just in shock, or something,” Clementine reassured herself, but her trembling voice was swallowed up by the silence. She couldn’t fool herself, she was terrified.

Just as she was giving up on finding any survivors, a flash of motion caught her eye. A man was trapped under a pile of twisted metal, but he was alive. Clem was relieved. She could save this man. She could do what she came here to do. She rushed over to his side.

“D-don’t worry, you’re gonna be okay,” Clem said dropping to her knees next to the him. Immediately, she felt something warm seeping into her suit. Blood. The man slowly twisted his body to face her, and her stomach sank as she saw how little light was left in his eyes.

“Spider... woman… you’re h-here…” The man said. He coughed violently. Clementine waited for him to stop before speaking.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am, we’re gonna get you out of here. You’re going to be okay, sir,” She said. The man smiled, but it looked more like a grimace.

“N-no.”

“What?” Clem’s heart was beating out of her chest. This wasn’t happening, it couldn’t be. She was Spider-Woman, if she couldn’t save people, then what was the point?

“I… I’m not… naive… we b-both know… I’m dy-“ He coughed again, blood landing on the sidewalk and on Clem’s legs. She shook her head. She just needed to get him to a hospital and he’d be fine. He was going to be fine.

“No, no, you’re okay. You’re not going to die, I promise.”

“D-don’t make promises… you can’t keep…” The man said, his voice trembling. Fuck, how was he okay with dying like this? Slowly, painfully, alone… The same way Omid had died.

“I… fuck. Fuck, I’m so- I’m so sorry,” Clem said, her throat closing up. She wasn’t going to cry. Not in front of this dying man, not when whoever had done this could be right around the corner- as that thought occurred, Clem glanced over her shoulder. Still no sign of whoever had done this. The murderer. She turned back to the man, whose eyes widened slightly.

“Sh-shit, you’re… you’re a kid.”

“What?” That wasn’t what she’d been expecting.

“You’re j-just a… kid… You sh-shouldn’t have to… be doing all of this… watching this…” The man trailed off. Clem frowned. She was Spider-Woman. This was her job.

“I chose this. I want to keep more innocent people from dying the way O- so many other people have died. I guess it was stupid of me to think I could do something like that, though. This is the sort of thing I was supposed to stop, but there was just no way- I was so far away, and I just- it’s not fair!” Clem was aware how childish she sounded, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She had these powers and yet she couldn’t save any of the people around her. What was the point?

“H-hey… you sh-shouldn’t have to… see this stuff, b-but… that doesn’t… it doesn’t mean you c-can’t… save people… I’ve seen you… on the news… D-don’t sell yourself sh-short…” The man forced a smile for her. Clem appreciated it, but any good she had done in the past was insignificant when she was in the middle of so much death. Although, it did seem like she was always surrounded by death. Her parents, Omid… Maybe she was cursed. That would explain things.

“I don’t know…” Clem said, and she hated how small she sounded in that moment. Here she was, an actual superhero, breaking down in front of a man who was literally dying in front of her. Who was she to unload all her insecurities on a dying man? The man just shook his head.

“You… you d-don’t have to… know… N-nobody thinks they’re… making enough of a d-difference… b-but… for every person you haven’t saved… th-think of the ones you have…” The man said. Clem frowned. He was right. She hadn’t been able to save this man, but last night… if it hadn’t been for her, Violet would probably be dead. Clem felt sick at the thought, and stopped herself before she could imagine in more detail what could have happened. She nodded slowly.

“You’re right… Still, I’m so, so sorry,” Clem said. The man frowned.

“For… for what?”

“I’m sorry that you’re dying out here. Alone.”

“I’m not alone. You’re here, Spider-Woman.”

“But it’s not the same-“ The man cut her off.

“You’re a… a good person, Spider-Woman… b-better than most… d-dying with you for company… you’re enough.”

“I… still, it’s not fair, none of this is.”

“N-nobody ever said it was, kid… b-but… we all just gotta… make the most of it…” The man said, his eyelids drooping. Clem nodded slowly.

“You’re right.”

“I… usually am.”

Clem had a sudden thought.

“What’s your name?” The man smiled at her.

“It’s-“ He began to cough again, but unlike before, he didn’t stop after a couple of seconds. More blood fell from his open mouth and splashed into the puddle on the ground. Shit, he couldn’t be gone yet, Clem didn’t even have a name to remember him by.

“My- my name’s Clementine,” Clem whispered frantically to the man when he finally stopped coughing. He didn’t respond, his face going slack. Clem shook her head.

“No, no, not yet! Not yet…” She said, reaching out to the man before drawing back. She felt tears threatening to spill over, but paused when she felt a strange feeling spread through her body, reminding her of the sense that had lead her to Violet. Her Spider-Sense.

“Spider-Girl. I’m glad you could make it,” Clem spun around.

Standing in front of her was what looked at first glance like a giant metal humanoid bug with a long, pointed, lizard tail, but at second glance was probably a man wearing a scorpion supersuit. He had to have been at least twice her size with the suit on. She got to her feet and tried to keep her hands from shaking. Whoever this was had killed all the people around her. He was dangerous.

“It’s Spider-Woman, actually,” She said, hoping to mask her absolute certainty that this guy was going to kill her in the next six seconds.

“Well, Spider-Woman. How’d you like the show? I put it on for you,” The man asked, his voice obviously distorted by the suit he was wearing. Clem gritted her teeth. These people were dead because this weird robot bug man had wanted to get her attention. They were dead because of her.

“I didn’t catch much of it, actually. Had to haul ass to get over here. You should probably make sure whoever you’re performing for is actually in the audience before you, you know. Start things up.”

“I meant the aftermath. Sure, the explosions are fun, but the destruction afterward…” The man made a satisfied noise before continuing, “That’s the real flesh of it all. Shows you how weak people really are. You’ve seen yourself how fragile people are in their final moments… so frail. Completely at the will of the rest of us. It’s pathetic.”

“Everyone dies. There’s nothing pathetic about it,” Clem said, anger coloring her words. The man shrugged, his suit clanking loudly.

“That’s where you’re wrong. See, maybe most people have to die, but us? We’re already different. We’re already stronger. If anyone can escape death, it’s people like us.”

“I’m nothing like you,” Clementine spat. The man laughed, his voice hollow and distorted.

“We’re more alike than you think, Spider-Girl. People look up to you, they fear you. You’ve seen what people are saying about you in the news, how you’re dangerous. You scare them. You’ve got a lot of power over them as long as they fear you. People like us, we’re strong. We were meant to herd the weak. This city could be yours, or mine in an instant.” The man asked, and Clementine was reminded of what Danny St. John had said the night before.

“Again, it’s Spider-Woman. We’re not better than everyone else just because we have powers or a fancy suit,” Clem said. The man nodded.

“You’re right. We’ve got powers or a suit because we’re better. It’s a gift, what you’ve got. It happened for a reason. Shame for you not to use it.”

“I am using it.”

“Not the way I see it. Way I see it, you’re far too concerned with people who don’t matter. Like that man back there. He’s insignificant. You don’t even know him. He doesn’t deserve your time,” The man said. Clementine shook her head.

“You’re wrong.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I do know him. He- he was brave.”

“And look where it got him.”

“I-“

“Someone could be the nicest, bravest person in the world, and it’s not gonna save them. It’s going to happen to everyone you love, you know. No use trying to outrun that. They’re mortal.”

“And we’re not?”

“No, we aren’t. We’re stronger. Better. Surround yourself with other immortals, Spider-Girl. Cut ties with the mortal world,” The man said. This man was off his god damn rocker if he thought Clem was going to buy his weird shtick.

“For the last time, it’s Spider-Woman. And I’ll pass.”

“Really? Hm, I was hoping to get through to you today, but I guess I’ll try again later.” The man said. Clem felt her Spider-Senses buzzing through her, but before she could make a move, the man’s robotic stinger was swinging toward her. She jumped to dodge it a second too late, the tip of it barely grazing her shoulder. She winced. Shit, it had cut through her suit. The man grinned menacingly as sirens approached.

“Well, I’ll be going now. Good talk. I look forward to seeing you again, Spider-Girl,” He said. Clem moved to stop him, but it felt like the world around her was spinning. She stumbled and fell to the ground.

“What… what did you do?” Clem’s tongue was heavy like lead, but she managed to force the words out.

“It’s just a little something I whipped up earlier. Don’t worry, it’s not lethal, but I would get out of here before you pass out. Wouldn’t want to be caught here,” The man said, turning to go. Clem shook her head, as if to clear the fog that was settling over her.

“Who…?” She said. The man didn’t spare her another glance.

“You can call me the Scorpion.”

Just as suddenly as he had arrived, the Scorpion was gone, and the sirens drew closer. He was right about one thing- she didn’t want to be here when the cops arrived. She stumbled to her feet and aimed a web at a nearby building, using it to swing jerkily onto the roof of another. She landed face-first, getting a mouthful of gravel. Clem hadn’t had a rough landing like that in a while. She groaned, pushing herself onto her back.

“Ugh…” She said, her view of the sky growing spotty. It was nice on this roof… there was nothing but sky above her. It was like camping. She hadn’t gone camping since she was little. Her parents had loved the outdoors. So had Christa and Omid, but they were more hiking people than campers. Omid had always joked that he had a sensitive back and if he ever slept on the ground, he’d be sore for weeks. She missed Omid and her parents. And Christa, she was probably crazy worried. Clem should really be getting back soon, but she was just so tired. There was no harm in just closing her eyes for a second…

* * *

When Clementine opened her eyes again, the sky was dark. She had a moment of panicked bewilderment as she tried to recall why she was outside, which morphed into just panic as she recalled her encounter with the Scorpion and the fact that Christa had expected her home hours ago. She bolted up, reaching for her phone in her pocket, before remembering that it was in her backpack that she’d left in an alley. She groaned as she forced herself to stand. She was in so much trouble.

She frowned, feeling a damp, sticky substance that had seeped into her suit. It was hard to tell on the red suit in the dark, but she knew that her legs were covered in blood. Clem shook her head to clear her thoughts. Right now she needed to focus on getting home as soon as possible.

Clementine took a step toward the edge and winced. Shit, she must have messed up her leg when she’d fallen onto the roof. She certainly hadn’t landed gracefully. She paused, before making her way more carefully and looking over the edge of the roof. There was no sign of the police below, but they’d taped off the area and seemed to have cleared the bodies. Clem edged closer to the side of the building. She took a breath before pushing off of the roof. The wind whipped past her as she shot out a line of webbing, swinging wildly through the air.

“Okay, whoa. Steady,” Clem reminded herself as she continued to swing through the city. More than once, she moved in a way that agitated something she must have hurt at some point during the day, and she had to grit her teeth through the pain. As she finally reached the alley she had started out in, she let out a sigh of relief. No more swinging, thank god. She dropped to the ground and went to collect her backpack, but it wasn’t where she had left it. She stared at the wall in disbelief.

“Are you fucking serious?” She said to no one in particular. After the night she’d had, of course someone had taken her backpack. Why not, right? Her homework was in there. Her phone was in there. Her change of clothes was in there.

Now she was left with nothing but her Spider-Woman suit and the clothes she had on underneath, which were also stained with blood at this point… shit, how was she supposed to return home wearing this? Christa was definitely still awake, since Clem hadn’t come home when she was supposed to, so there was no way she was slipping in unannounced. Coming home in a bloodstained supersuit was definitely out of the question. But where could she get a change of clothes?

Any money she had was in her backpack, so she couldn’t buy anything. Not like she could just casually stroll into a store in her getup anyway. And stealing was definitely out of the question, Clementine wasn’t a thief, and Spider-Woman definitely wasn’t. The public was wary of her as-is, no way she was going to commit an actual crime as Spider-Woman. Apparently some people didn’t have the same moral reservations, she thought crossly. Still, she wasn’t any closer to finding a solution than she had been a couple of minutes ago..

Clem was suddenly reminded of the time she’d fallen asleep in the park. She’d had a long day, and had been doing homework on the playground equipment. At some point she’d fallen asleep, and she’d woken up at the top of the slide hours later. This was before Omid had died, but Christa had never been lax about curfews. Clementine had panicked and headed to Gabe’s. She’d climbed the tall maple tree next to his house and knocked on his window. He’d been understandingly startled, but he’d let her in and covered for her when Clem had told Christa she’d fallen asleep at Gabe’s. Clem had only gotten in a little bit of trouble when she came home the next day.

She could count on Gabe. She knew that. He would give her a change of clothes and tell anyone who asked that she’d been with him the whole time. But going to Gabe would mean revealing her identity to him, and putting him in danger. Could she really do that to him?

Standing alone in the alley, she realized she didn’t have much of a choice. She sighed heavily and began to make her way back.

There were no late-night joggers out that night, which Clementine was thankful for. She was probably a sorry sight, Spider-Woman limping down the trail, covered in someone else’s blood. The last thing she needed was someone to see her like this. Hell, pictures of her would probably be all over the internet by the next morning. Needless to say, it would not be good for her image. Speaking of, she was lucky no one had been around to see her encounter with the Scorpion. That would have been embarrassing.

As she walked, her leg hurt less and less. She hadn’t been knocked around enough before to test it, but this confirmed her theory that she had some sort of enhanced healing. She added that to the mental list of things she’d gained from the spider bite.

Clementine emerged from the woods and started in the direction of Gabe’s house, glancing over her shoulder nervously every few seconds. About a block from Gabe’s house, she felt a tingling in her spine and the instinct to hide. Clementine ducked behind a recycling bin and held her breath as she heard footsteps approaching. She chanced a look around the bin and saw a guy in her grade, Marlon, walking his dog. She waited until he’d turned the other corner before leaving her hiding spot.

When she finally reached the Garcia household, almost an hour had passed since she’d woken up on the roof. The only light on in the house was Gabe’s. Good. He was awake, but nobody else was. That would make this easier. Clementine made her way around to the side of the house. She didn’t bother with the tree this time, opting to scale the wall instead. She crawled her way up and peered into Gabe’s room.

He was at his desk, facing the wall to Clem’s left, focusing intently on something on his computer. Clem took a breath. She was really doing this, she thought as she tapped lightly on his window. Gabe didn’t look up. Upon further inspection, he had earbuds in, and he was nodding his head to the music and drumming on his desk.

Clementine rolled her eyes, tapping slightly louder. Still, no response from Gabe. She knocked on the window again, and Gabe turned to look out, tilting his chair backward, before his eyes widened, he tipped too far back and fell over.

“Shit, are you okay?” Clem whispered, before remembering he couldn’t hear her through the window. Gabe scrambled to his feet and unlocked his window, pulling it open. Clementine climbed through the window and dropped down lightly into Gabe’s room.

“H-hi! Spider-Woman, ma’am! Um, no offense, but why are you here, in my house? If you want my dad, I can go get him, he’s down the hall, you could’ve knocked on the front door and I would’ve- oh, shit. I mean shoot, sorry, didn’t mean to curse, I just- You’ve got red on you,” Gabe rambled, gesturing at her legs. Looking down, the bloodstains were far more apparent in the light. “Um, sorry, that was a dumb reference, I mean, you’re probably here to see my dad, and I’m just-“

“Gabe,” Clem stopped him. He looked at her in bewilderment.

“How do you know my-“ Clem took her mask off. “Holy shit, Clem?”

“I’m Spider-Woman. And, you- you can’t tell anyone, okay? Nobody else knows,” Clem said quickly. Gabe nodded, his eyes wide.

“Wait, so you’re- and you- the St. Johns- holy shit, you saved Violet’s life last night?” Gabe took everything in at once. Clementine rolled her eyes.

“That’s what you take away from this?” She asked. Gabe cracked a smile.

“I mean, I’m taking away… all of it, I just… wow. Holy shit. My best friend is Spider-Woman.”

“I’m your best friend?” Clem asked. Gabe looked at her like she was insane.

“Um, yes? Are you kidding? Also, wait, why is there blood all over you?” He asked, shifting from excited to concerned in an instant. Clementine grimaced.“You… you saw that explosion, right? Over in Atlanta?” She asked. Gabe’s eyes widened in realization.

“You were over there.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I was. I saw the explosion on my way home from practice, and I got there as soon as I could, but by then it was too late. There were… so many bodies, Gabe, and I found this man who was still alive. I thought maybe I could save him, but I couldn’t. I stayed with him while he died- I mean, I wasn’t going to leave him. And his blood got all over my suit.”

“Shit, Clem…” Gabe said.

“As soon as he… you know, this man showed up. He called himself the Scorpion, and he caused the explosion. He kept going on about how we were immortal, and then he scratched me with his robotic stinger thing, and I think there was some sort of poison in there, because I barely made it to a nearby roof before I passed out. And when I woke up, I went back to the alley where I’d left my stuff, and it was gone. I just, I didn’t know what to do, so I came to you,” Clem said, her words tumbling out. Gabe nodded along, looking both concerned and horrified.

“Clem, I’m… so sorry,” He said after a moment. Clem frowned.

“What?”

“I mean, you’ve been doing all this dangerous shit, to- to protect people! And I haven’t been there to back you up.”

“There’s no way you could have known-“

“But still. I noticed something was off, and I-“

“Did everything you could. Really,” She said, noticing his uncertainty. “You were concerned, you were there for me. And I ended up telling you before anyone else because I know I can count on you. You’re a really, really good friend, Gabe. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Gabe tilted his head, considering this, before reaching out and pulling Clem into a hug. “You’re amazing, Clementine,” He whispered. Clem wrapped her arms around him.

“You are.”

Gabe pulled back and looked Clem up and down. “Shit, you need clothes. One sec,” He said, opening his dresser and rummaging through it. He pulled out an oversized sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants. “Here. You can change in the bathroom.”

Clementine gratefully took the change of clothes. “Thanks.”

Gabe grinned at her as she headed down the hall to the bathroom. Clem discarded her suit on the floor and changed into the clothes Gabe had given her. They which were a couple sizes too big for her, not that she minded. She was glad to be wearing something that wasn’t covered in someone else’s blood. Clementine scooped up the blood-soaked clothes and returned to Gabe’s room, careful not to make too much noise. She didn’t want to wake Gabe’s family. The last thing she needed right now was Gabe’s dad finding her like this.

When she stepped back into Gabe’s room, he was sitting on his bed and staring at a blank wall. He caught sight of her and jumped, before breaking into a sheepish grin.

“Sorry. You caught me deep in thought there,” He said. Clem cracked a smile.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” She feigned shock. Gabe rolled his eyes.

“Come on, lay off. Give me those, we’ll put them away for now. We can worry about getting the blood out later,” Gabe said. Clementine handed him the clothes, and he attempted to stuff them on a shelf in his closet that was just out of his reach. Clem crossed her arms and tilted her head in amusement.

“Need a hand?” She asked. Gabe glared.

“No, I’ve- I got it,” He said, finally pushing the pile fully onto the shelf, before turning back to face Clem. “Right. Now. Next order of business.”

“Christa,” They said at the same time. Clem grimaced.

“Shit, I have no idea what I’m going to tell her. I was supposed to be home… wait, what time is it?”

“Uhh…” Gabe glanced at his computer monitor, “A little after ten.”

Clem groaned. “That’s later than I thought, damn it.”

Gabe worried his lower lip, forehead crinkling. After a moment of deliberation, his face lit up. “I’ve got it!”

“Hm?”

“Call Christa, say someone took your bag. Which is true, so that’s not a lie. And say that you were out looking for it and lost track of time, and you’re staying with me for the night. You’re probably gonna get in some trouble, but you’ve got an alibi, and you won’t have to face it until tomorrow! I’ll vouch for you. So will Mari, if we bribe her. And probably Javi, too. Plus, that way you can tell me all about what it’s like being Spider-Woman! Win-win!” Gabe was practically buzzing with excitement. It was honestly pretty adorable. Clem nodded slowly.

“Alright. I’ll answer your questions, but first I’ve got to make it through this call with Christa,” She said. Gabe cringed.

“Oof, yeah. That’s gonna be rough.”

“You said it. Can I borrow your phone? Mine’s kinda…” She gestured, and Gabe nodded.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Gabe said, reaching into his pocket and handing Clem his phone. Clem sighed deeply, dialing Christa’s number.

“Here goes…” She pressed call. Clem held her breath inadvertently as the phone rang once, then twice. Gabe swung his legs back and forth, glancing at Clem with a concerned expression. On the third ring, someone picked up.

“Hello? Christa?” Clem said.

“Clementine?” Christa said, voice clearly strained. Shit, she was worried. That was worse than Christa being mad. Clem hated making Christa worry more than pretty much anything. She had enough to worry about without her going MIA.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m fine, I’m at Gabe’s, don’t worry, I just- I lost my backpack, someone must have taken it, and I was out looking for it an-“

“Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re okay. Oh thank god, Clementine, with what happened in Atlanta, I thought- I mean, I figured you would have told me if you’d gone into Atlanta, but you never know, and you weren’t picking up your phone, and I just panicked. I knew I was probably being irrational, but I really… I thought I lost you, Clementine.”

“You- you didn’t. I’m okay. And you’re not going to lose me,” Clem said, and with a sense of uneasiness, she recalled how close she had just come to dying. She couldn’t say that with certainty, especially not after today. If the Scorpion had wanted to, he could’ve killed her. Clementine swallowed hard.

“I… I know, I just… wait, what was that about your backpack? Someone stole it?” Christa asked. Clem frowned.

“Oh, I mean- probably, it wasn’t where I left it, but it’s not a big deal. I have enough money to buy a new one.”

“And your phone?”

“Oh, yeah. Um, I don’t know, I guess I’ll do without for now?” Clem shrugged.

“I’ll dig up Omid’s old flip phone for you… we’ll talk about possibly getting you a new one later. And you said you were at Gabe’s house?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m at Gabe’s. I was hoping I could stay the night?” Clem asked hopefully. Christa paused for a moment.

“I… alright. But only because I’ve noticed you haven’t been hanging out with your friends as much lately. I fully support you focusing on school, but you don’t want to become a shut-in like me,” Christa laughed.

“You’re not a shut in,” Christa laughed again, “I’m serious. But anyway, thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. And promise not to go looking for any missing backpacks without telling me next time, alright? Come home first, we can look for it together.”

“Hopefully there is no next time. But if there is, I’ll go to you first,” Clem said.

“Alright. Well, I love you, Clementine. Have fun with Gabe, but make sure you get some sleep.”

“I love you, too. And, Christa?” Clem said.

“Yes?”

“Do you want to get coffee when I get home from school tomorrow?” Clementine asked. She wanted to spend more time with Christa. She owed it to the woman after all the time she’d spent worrying about her safety. Plus, she’d been meaning to get Christa to drill her on some chemistry vocab.

“Sure, Clementine. That sounds great.”

“Alright, great. I love you too, Christa. Night,” Clem said, and she hung up. Gabe looked at her hopefully.

“That seemed like it went pretty well,” He said.

“It did,” Clementine replied.

“So?”

“So…” Clementine grinned, “What’s your first question?”

Gabe’s expression was reminiscent of a kid in a candy shop, and Clem worried for a moment that she’d made a mistake in agreeing to an interrogation. “Okay, so, first off. What are the St. Johns like? I mean, I only saw them for, like, a second, and it was honestly pretty scary. I can’t imagine actually facing off against them.”

Clem shrugged. “I mean, they’re actually not that bad. It was kind of hard to keep up with them the first couple of times I fought them, but they break out of jail, like, every other day, so I kind of have them figured out at this point.”

Gabe nodded, eyes wide. “Right. Right, getting used to fighting supervillains is a thing. A thing that people do.”

“I mean, it’s not supervillains, it’s the St. Johns,” Clem said.

“But they’re, like, the supervillains, Clem. Not that I need to tell you that, you’re the one who’s fought them, and- okay, next question. Um, I’ve seen footage of your fights, and you get knocked around, like, a lot. Are you super durable or something?” Gabe asked. Clementine grinned.

“Wow, Gabe, never pegged you as a Spider-Girl fanboy. You’ve watched my fights?” Clem asked. Gabe huffed and made a show of acting disinterested.

“Not, like, a lot, just… I mean it’s on the internet, and I hate homework, and superheroes are cool, and I just-“ Gabe stopped. Clem smiled smugly. “Ugh, whatever. You get it.”

“I do. And I think I’ve got some sort of enhanced healing? I don’t really know the extent of it, but it’s there.”

“Neat… hey, wait, what other powers do you have? Like, I know about the webs and the stickiness, but other than that, what’ve you got?” Gabe asked. Clem sighed. Of course Gabe would call it that.

“Okay, first off, never call it stickiness again. Second, the webs aren’t actually a power of mine. I built my webshooters myself. I figured it went with the spider theme,” She said. Gabe’s eyes widened.

“Wait, seriously? So you mean… hypothetically, someone else could try them out?”

“Um, well, if by that hypothetical someone you meant not you, then yes. Someone not reckless would hypothetically be able to use my webshooters,” Clem said.

“Are you kidding? You’re one to talk, you literally put yourself in danger every morning! Hey, actually, I feel like I should be yelling at you here for that,” Gabe frowned, “Sarah would.”

“Different standards of danger for superhumans. And back to your question, I have slightly enhanced speed and strength, and some sort of… weird sixth sense, I guess? I’ve just been calling it my Spider-Sense.”

Gabe laughed. “Oh my god, that’s great!”

“Well, I’m glad it’s not too dumb of a name,” Clem smiled. Gabe grinned back.

“Oh, no, it’s totally stupid. Lamest thing you could’ve possibly called it. But it’s totally great, too. Spider-Sense. Alliteration is the best.”

“Whatever you say, Gabe,” Clem said fondly.

“Uh, this is probably a weird question…” Gabe trailed off. Clem crossed her arms over her chest.

“Well, not gonna say it’s not, because knowing you, it could be super fucking weird, but go ahead and ask it.”

“Alright. Uh, this Scorpion. You said he had a tail thing. Was that on some sort of armor or suit or something, or was that, like, an actual part of him?” Gabe asked. Clementine laughed.

“Yeah, that was a part of his suit. Sorry, I must’ve forgotten to mention that.”

“Okay, cool. That’s what I thought. Did he use something in his suit for those explosions?” Gabe asked. Clementine frowned. She didn’t actually know.

“I didn’t see him when he was actually destroying the building. The answer is probably yes, though,” She said. Gabe nodded.

“Alright, um. You said I’m the only person you’ve told about the whole… Spider-Woman thing?” Gabe asked. Clem nodded. “Are you planning on telling anyone else?”

Clem shifted. “No. I only told you because I knew I could trust you and I had no other options.”

“You can trust Sarah and Duck.”

“I know. But the more people who know my identity, the more people are in danger. And the more likely it is my identity gets out.”

“I guess, but still, that’s a lot to be carrying around with you, Clem. I mean, Jesus, you saw a dude die today! That shit’s… it’s a lot to deal with. It’s the sort of thing you’re supposed to be able to talk to your friends about,” Gabe said.

“It’s not safe,” Clementine said, her voice cracking. Gabe didn’t get it. If something happened to one of her loved ones because of her, again, she would… she wasn’t sure what she’d do. But she was going to do everything in her power to prevent it from ever happening.

“I… okay. I’m not in your situation. I’ll back off. But… just keep what I said in mind, alright?”

Clem nodded. “Alright. I know I said I’d answer all of your questions, but can… can we go to bed now?” Clem asked, voice small. The mood had shifted again. Gabe nodded, scrambling off of his bed.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. Here, you take the bed, I’ll grab my sleeping bag.”“Oh, you don’t have-“

“Look, it’s the least I can do for the neighborhood vigilante. Can’t have Spider-Woman developing back issues,” Gabe grinned, before heading into the hall to get the sleeping bag. Clem rolled her eyes and crawled into Gabe's Star Wars covers. God, Gabe was such a dork. She couldn’t have asked for a better friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> howdy! hope that was enjoyable for you. it was pretty fun to write, but i think some upcoming chapters are gonna be More fun to write! sorry for the lack of... well, most of the characters this chapter. there were like five, one was that dying guy, one was christa on the phone, and. well i guess if you count marlon and rosie's little split second appearance we've got seven but lbr that does Not count. ANYWAY
> 
> if you enjoyed this chapter feel free to drop a kudos or a comment, i will Die if you comment im not kidding, the feedback i got for the last two chapters was CRAZY and im sUPER sorry i left yall hangin for so long! but yea, have a great day!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gabe forgets that microwaves exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> howdy guys! sorry this chapter took so long. i've been writing it pretty steadily since the last chapter dropped, but it does take a while. if you guys are interested, i do post occasional wordcount updates on my tumblr @sara--lancelot BUT i've been toying with the idea of making a seperate blog specifically for this story, just cuz most of my followers were following me before every other post on my blog was twdg, and they probably don't care about this fic haha.
> 
> but yea! lemme know if that's something y'all would be interested in! hope yall enjoy this chapter! :)

For the second time in the span of a few hours, Clem woke up somewhere unfamiliar. She jolted upwards, and it took her a moment to realize that she was in Gabe’s room. As the events of the night prior came flooding back, she flopped back on the mattress with a thud. On second thought, maybe she should just stay in bed.

“You’re awake,” came Gabe’s voice from across the room. Clem groaned, turning onto her side and pulling the blanket back over her. “Come on, Clem. We’ve gotta get ready for school.”

“Nope,” Clementine grumbled. The room was silent for a moment, before Clem heard Gabe’s chair scraping against the floor, and his footsteps approaching her. “Don’t you dare-“

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, the blankets were being ripped from her. She glared at Gabe, who shrugged semi-apologetically.

“Sorry. But we should probably get moving. My dad and Kate already left, and we’ve got, like, an hour before we have to be at school.”

“Or we could just… not go,” Clem grumbled, knowing full well that wasn’t an option. Gabe shot her a look, and she grudgingly dragged herself out of bed. “Happy?”

“Very. But I’d be happier if you came downstairs and we had some breakfast.”

“You have high expectations, considering I was just so rudely awakened,” Clem said. Gabe frowned.

“Don’t you, like, get up and fight criminals earlier than this on a normal day?” He asked. Clem nodded.

“Yeah, but I don’t know if you remember, I was out a little later than usual last night. Oh, and I got drugged. So I’m allowed to not be a beacon of joy right now,” She said. Gabe raised his hands in mock-surrender.

“Jeez, no need to bite my head off,” He said. Clem shot him a small smile, letting him know she wasn’t entirely serious.

“Whatever. Just, please tell me someone in this house made some coffee,” She said. Gabe grinned.

“Yeah, Kate made a pot earlier. It’s probably cold by now, though.”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s this crazy invention called a microwave-“

“Okay, christ, let’s just get you that caffeine. I don’t think I can deal with grumpy morning Clem for another minute,” Gabe grumbled. Clementine followed him downstairs to the kitchen, where Javier and Mari were sitting at the table. Javi was drinking a cup of coffee, and Mari was frantically doing homework with an Eggo waffle hanging from her mouth. Both looked up as Gabe and Clem made a beeline for the coffee pot.

“Um… hello?” Mari said, her waffle falling onto her homework with a plop. She quickly put it back in her mouth.

“Hey, Mari,” Gabe said, grabbing a pair of mugs from the cabinet.

“When did Clementine get here?” Javier asked, a knowing smile playing on his lips. He took a sip of his coffee to hide his face.

“Last night,” Clem said, feigning nonchalance and pouring coffee into both of the cups. If she acted casually enough, maybe he and Mari would drop it. Of course, knowing the Garcias, that probably wasn’t going to happen.

“And if anyone asks, she came over after school,” Gabe added.

“Practice,” Clem hurriedly corrected.

“Right, after practice,” Gabe said, putting the cups in the microwave.

“Hm… any chance you could tell me why we’re covering for Clementine?” Javier asked. Clem’s mind raced. Gabe had said something about bribery…

“Nope. But I’ll buy you guys Girl Scout cookies if you play along,” She said quickly. Both Javier and Mari perked up at once, sharing a quick look before directing their gazes back to Clem. She held her breath, hoping her plan would work.

“Tagalongs and thin mints?” Javier asked after a moment. He had good taste. Well, sort of. Tagalongs are the best, but everyone knows Thin Mints suck and are basically toothpaste in cookie form.

“And samoas,” Clem added. Javi nodded firmly.

“Deal.” Just then, the microwave beeped. Gabe handed Clem a cup of coffee. She took a sip and sighed. Caffeine was a miracle worker.

“Thanks, Gabe.”

“No problem. But I am expecting you to buy me Girl Scout cookies too. You know, because of that totally uncalled for microwave comment,” Gabe grinned over his cup. Clem raised an eyebrow.

“Seriously?”

“Nah, not really. But… I mean, if you want to…” Gabe looked at Clem hopefully. She sighed.

“You could’ve just asked, you know,” She said. Gabe grinned.

“Yeah, I know. I just didn’t really want to.”

“Dork.”

“You’re one to talk,” Gabe said. Clem rolled her eyes.

“Whatever,” Clem said. Mari, who had finished her waffle, spun around to face the pair.

“Can you guys be quiet for a second? I’m trying to do homework,” She said. Gabe frowned.

“Just listen to music or something. It’s your own fault for not doing your homework last night,” He said.

“My walkman’s busted. And I was busy.”

“Ever heard of a phone?” Gabe asked. Clem rolled her eyes at him, quickly coming up with something to defuse the situation.

“This coming from the guy who forgot that microwaves existed…”

Javi coughed. “You’re all running out of time before school starts. Gabe, leave your sister alone and let her try to get her work done. Mari, you should probably do your homework before it’s due next time. And Clementine, you’re doing great, keep it up.”

Gabe rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet until he finished his coffee. He announced that he was getting changed, leaving Clementine downstairs with the other two Garcias. She sipped her coffee, leaning back against the counter and gazing absently out the window. Her attention was drawn to Mariana when the younger girl groaned and planted her face into her textbook. Clem glanced at Javi, who merely shrugged before turning back to his computer. She sighed and approached Mari.

“Hey, uh… you alright?” Clem asked. When she received only a grunt in response, she continued. “Right, um. What’re you working on?”

“Geometry,” Mari said without moving. That had been a tough class for Clementine, and judging by Mari’s reaction to her homework, she was having similar problems.

“Yeah, math sucks.”

“Amen.”

“You mind if I take a look, though?” Clementine asked. Mari finally lifted her head from the book and shrugged.

“Sure, go for it,” She said. Clem glanced over Mariana’s shoulder, skimming the page she was on. Angles. She really didn’t miss geometry.

“Oh, I see what you’re doing here. I remember this. I actually had some trouble with this same topic when I was taking geometry. Angles are the worst,” She said. Mari grinned.

“Right?”

“Okay, so I think I see what’s tripping you up here. I used to make the same mistake all the time. Can I borrow your pencil for a sec?”

When Gabe came down the stairs a few minutes later, he found the two working intently on the assignment, Mari grinning brightly. Javi was smiling proudly at them over his laptop, but the pair were so engrossed in the assignment that they didn’t notice. Gabe crossed his arms.

“Wow, Clem, coffee must do wonders for your personality. I mean, you’re actually doing math. And not just math, geometry. And not even five minutes ago, you were giving me a hard time for forgetting about microwaves,” He said. Clem rolled her eyes.

“Maybe I just really like Mari. She’s a cool kid. Better watch out, we might have to replace you.”

“You’re only saying that because you’ve didn’t see her crying when Fred died in Harry Potter,” Gabe said smugly. Mari glared and punched him on the shoulder. “Ow!”

Mari rolled her eyes. “You deserved that.” Gabe looked at Javi, who shrugged.

“She’s right, Gabe. You did provoke her,” He said, taking a sip of his coffee. Gabe groaned.

“Whatever, it’s almost time to go. Clem, you wanna get changed? I can get you more clothes,” He said. Clem nodded.

“I appreciate that, thanks,” She said.

Javi’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Why didn’t Clem bring her own clothes?” He asked. Clem paused. It was pretty obvious what it looked like from his perspective. Her mind raced to find an excuse or an explanation.

“Uh… mine were dirty. Got mud all over them,” She said. Javi frowned.

“It hasn’t rained since last week,” He said. Shit, he was right. How could she get out of this?

“I, uh… I was playing with the hose.”

“…Right. It’s October, Clementine,” Javier said. Gabe seemed to decide this was the moment to step in.

“Haha, you know what, we’re kind of cutting it close, so we’re just gonna…” He said, grabbing Clem’s arm and dragging her toward the stairs. Once they were safely inside Gabe’s room, he crossed his arms and looked at her incredulously.

“How have you been keeping this a secret, again? You are a really bad liar. Why would you even be playing with the hose any time of the year, let alone in October? We need to get you, like, acting lessons or something,” Gabe said. Clem glared.

“I’ll have you know that I’m an excellent liar. I just… you know. It’s just kinda embarrassing. What Javi probably thinks happened,” Clem said, and Gabe’s face screwed up in confusion before it quickly shifted to realization.

“Oh… oh! Okay, yeah. Yeah, that’s… nope. I get it now. Spider-Woman is different from… yeah. Okay, I’m gonna get you those clothes now!” Gabe said, turning away from her and rifling through his dresser, tossing clothes onto the bed, before turning back to face her. “I’ll- you can change in here, and I’m going to wait. Outside. Okay, bye!” He said, practically sprinting out of the room. Clementine rolled her eyes. He was such a dork.

She turned back to the clothes on the bed, getting changed quickly. The jeans were a little loose, and the jacket’s sleeves were a little too long, but Clem didn’t really mind. At least she had clothes. They certainly beat the blood-soaked ones that were sitting in Gabe’s closet. Her stomach churned when she thought about the night before, and she forced it out of her mind for the time being.

She made her way downstairs, where Gabe and Mari had gathered their things and were waiting by the door. Clem was suddenly aware of the fact that she didn’t have her backpack anymore, and wondered how she was going to get through the day without it.

“Took you long enough. You ready?” Gabe asked. Clem nodded.

“Yeah,” She said.

“Have a good day!” Javi called as the trio left the house. During the walk to Sarah’s, the air was filled with the sound of Gabe and Mari bickering. Clementine, for the most part, stayed out of it, caught up in thoughts about the night before. Surely someone had to have seen her fight with the Scorpion from inside a building or something. Well, whether or not it could even be called a fight was questionable. It was more like an argument that ended with a good old fashioned drugging. Which was probably worse.

What was the Scorpion’s deal, anyway? He seemed to want power and immortality, for one thing. He definitely knew how to set lofty goals, she gave him that. That was about the only semi-positive thought she had regarding him, though. He had killed people, poisoned her, and felt that non-superpowered people were inferior and even unimportant, all of which Clementine had major problems with.

Clem was also having doubts since telling Gabe about her identity. Sure, she hadn’t really had any other choice last night, but now that she’d had time to really think about it, was telling Gabe worth the risk? What if he accidentally let slip that she was Spider-Woman? What if he was used against her? Not that she didn’t trust him, because she did, but he wasn’t exactly known for his subtlety. There wasn’t anything she could do about it now, but she couldn’t help worrying.

“Clem, you’re gonna have to tie-break,” Clem was snapped out of her thoughts by none other than Gabe himself. Both he and Mari were looking at her expectantly.

“Sorry?” Clem said.

“Gabe thinks hairless cats are ugly,” Mari said indignantly. Gabe shrugged unapologetically.

“They totally are! They’re all… wrinkly…” He shuddered.

“Are not! They are beautiful and you know it!”

Gabe scoffed and crossed his arms. “Don’t tell me what I know.”

Mari rolled her eyes. “Whatever, you’re just grumpy because you know Clem’s gonna take my side.”

Clem considered her response. “Well, Gabe is right, they are wrinkly…” She said, and Gabe fist pumped.

“Yes! I knew you’d come through for me,” He said. Clem frowned at him.

“I wasn’t done. They’re wrinkled, yeah, but that’s part of their charm,” She said. Mari grinned at her.

“Tie’s been broken, Gabe,” She said. Gabe huffed.

“Whatever. I thought you had my back, man,” He said, pausing as the trio reached Sarah’s house. She was sitting on her porch with her father, and as soon as she saw the group she rushed down the stairs to meet them.

“Hi, guys! Did you see the explosion last night? It was super scary. As soon as I saw it, my dad made me come inside, but it looked really big,” She said. Gabe and Clem shared a glance. Of course people were going to want to talk about the night before.

“I saw it! It looked crazy. And… blue,” Mari said, oblivious. Clem forced a neutral expression.

“Yeah, I saw it on my way home from practice,” She said. Sarah nodded.

“I just hope that people didn’t get hurt…” She trailed off. They were silent for a moment, the tension hanging over them. Clem focused intently on the cracks in the sidewalk as she walked, trying not to think too much about the explosion. After a long moment of awkwardness, Gabe broke the silence with an obviously fake cough.

“Uh, Sarah. Want to tell us about that series you’ve been reading? The one with the dragons,” He asked, and Sarah lit up, thrilled to have an opportunity tp explain the lore. She promised to lend Mari the first book just as they were reaching Duck’s house. Gabe went up to the door, but he’d barely lifted his hand to knock before it swung open, hitting him in the nose. Duck burst outside, grinning widely and kicking his leg up.

“Check these out!” He said excitedly. Gabe frowned at him, clutching his nose.

“First off, ow. Second, what are we looking at?” He said. Duck looked at him like he’d grown a third arm.

“Sorry. And, you’re looking at my bomb ass socks, duh!” He said, pointing at his socks, which happened to have Spider-Woman’s face on them. Clementine flushed, suddenly finding her shoes absolutely fascinating, and choosing to ignore Gabe, who was next to her choking back laughter. Duck glared at him, not noticing Clem’s sudden interest in her shoelaces.

“What, dude? They’re cool!” He said. Gabe coughed.  
“Y-yeah, they’re… they’re something…” He said. Duck rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, you just can’t appreciate them because you’re lame. Clem, you think they’re cool, right?” He asked. Gabe’s smirk widened, and Clementine’s face reddened even further. She, too, shot a quick glare at Gabe before turning back to Duck.

“I- They’re… neat,” She settled on. Duck tilted his head to the side.

“Neat?” He asked. Clem nodded, biting her lip.

“Yeah. Neat.”

“Okay. So you like them?” He asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, I- I do. I just didn’t realize they were making Spider-Woman… merchandise,” Clem said slowly. Sarah frowned.

“Hey, where did you get those, anyway?” She asked. Duck grinned and puffed out his chest, happy that someone was finally taking interest in his socks.  
“Target. I was gonna buy socks with lemons on them, but these were so much cooler,” He said. It was good to know that Duck thought she was cooler than a citrus fruit. He was really doing a lot for her self-confidence today.

“I just mean… do you think she gets any money from those socks?” Sarah asked. Duck stared at her incredulously.

“Are- are you asking me if Spider-Woman mugged my socks?” It was Sarah’s turn to look confused. Gabe’s laughter, which had died down, was back in full force.

“What? No! I just mean, when you bought it, did any of the money go to her?” Sarah asked. Duck frowned.  
“Huh. Probably not, I mean, how would they even get it to her? Unless Target somehow knows who she is behind the mask,” He said. Gabe snorted.

“I don’t think they do,” He said. Duck nodded.

“That sucks. She’s famous, and she doesn’t even get money for it.”

“Well, she’d probably be in a lot of trouble if she ever told anyone, you know. I mean, they don’t arrest her because it’s more trouble than it’s worth right now. My dad told me that. But if her civilian identity was public knowledge, she’d be really easy to find. And if the police didn’t get to her, some supervillain or even a regular criminal would. I think not getting a share of the profit from Duck’s socks is worth not getting kidnapped, killed, or arrested,” Mari added.

Gabe smiled slyly. “What do you think, Clem?” He asked. Clementine frowned at him.

“I- What do you mean?” She asked, still hung up on the face that Duck was wearing socks with her face on them.

“If you were Spider-Woman, would you be public about it, or would you keep a low profile? I mean, if it were me, I’d probably go with the middle ground. You know, tell a couple close friends, just so if something were to happen, say I went missing, they’d be able to find me. But what about you?” He asked slyly. Clem glared at him. He already knew the answer to that question, he was just being a jerk.

“Well, if I were Spider-Woman, it wouldn’t be anyone’s business but mine. Telling people would be putting them in danger,” Clem said, annoyance slipping into her voice. Gabe didn’t falter.

“And keeping them in the dark wouldn’t?” He asked. Clem glared at him. He was just doing this to press her buttons. Mari glanced between the two, eyebrows furrowed.

“Exactly. If a villain or someone asked Spider-Woman’s friends or family about… Spider-Woman stuff, and they didn’t know any of it, there’s no way they could let anything slip. It’s safer.”

“So, it’s to protect her and not them, got it,” Gabe said. Clem rolled her eyes. Of course it wasn’t, it was to protect everyone around her. The more separate her civilian life was from her vigilante one, the easier it was to keep the villains away from the people she cared about. It made sense, she reassured herself.

“It’s not- whatever. I’m not going to argue with you, it doesn’t matter,” She said. Gabe nodded.

“Right. Because neither of us are Spider-Woman,” He said. Clem nodded firmly.

“Exactly.”

“Good.”

“Great!”

“Excellent!”

“Fantastic!”

Sarah, Duck, and Mari looked between the pair confusedly. “I- Is something happening here that I’m not getting?” Sarah asked. Gabe gave Clem a meaningful look before shaking his head.

“No, just an inside joke. Nothing serious, don’t worry,” He said. Everyone looked unconvinced, but they dropped it, having just reached the school. Mari quickly split off from the group to head to the art room, while the others headed to Sarah’s locker to drop their stuff off.

“I’m still not sure why you guys insist on using my locker,” Sarah asked. Duck brushed her off.

“Come on, you’ve gotta admit it’s convenient. My locker’s on the third floor, Gabe and Clem’s are in the basement… yours is like, the only decent one, because it’s in the middle,” He said. Gabe offered Sarah a wide grin.

“Plus, it’s an extra five minutes you get to spend with us,” He said, throwing an arm around both Sarah and Duck. Duck shoved Gabe lightly, and Gabe shoved him back so that he stumbled into Sarah a little. Sarah giggled and pushed him back into Duck. Clem watched her friends push each other back and forth, satisfaction settling over her. Times like these reminded her why she loved these idiots.

Her eyes were drawn to Violet, who was facing away from her and talking to Louis. The lanky boy was leaning against a locker, his arm draped across the open door. He met Clem’s eye and waved, and then Violet was turning to face her and her heart was speeding up and shit, she had to say something-

“Hey, Vi, Louis,” She tried, and, judging by the looks she was receiving from her friends, probably failed, to be casual. Violet looked startled for a split second, before resuming a neutral expression. The change was so quick that Clem had probably imagined it. The lighting was weird in these hallways.

“Hey,” Violet said. Louis quickly took over.

“Hello, Clem. Sorry about my companion, she’s not really a morning person. Or an afternoon person, actually. Or… you know, now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t think she’s a person at all,” He said. Gabe snorted loudly, and Clem glared at him. The last thing she needed was her friends acting like idiots around her crush. Lord knows she was going to embarrass herself enough, she didn’t need Gabe or anyone else to do it for her.

“Shut up, Louis,” Violet said, punching Louis in the shoulder, but Clem could’ve sworn her face was a little flushed. Maybe she wasn’t the only one with ridiculous best friends.

“Case in point,” The taller boy grinned, rubbing his arm. “Also, ow.”

Gabe laughed. “You should’ve seen Clem this morning, before her coffee. She was on my ass just because I forgot microwaves existed for a second there.” Of course he saw this as an opportunity to embarrass her in front of Violet. She had seen this coming, but it didn’t mean she had to like it.

Louis beamed at Gabe. “Oh, this is Violet after her coffee. You don’t even want to know what she’s like before, believe me,” He said. Violet rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Guys, class starts in five minutes, we should probably get going,” Sarah interjected. Gabe nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, probably. See you guys later,” He said with an uncharacteristically shy smile.

Louis adjusted his jacket, nodding his head in their direction. “We wouldn’t want to make you late to class.”

Clementine’s eyes met Violet’s as she walked away from the pair. She offered the blonde a small smile. Violet smiled back, and although it wasn’t much, it made Clementine’s insides fluttery. It struck her that she’d rarely seen Violet smile, which was pretty sad because her smile was really nice. Clem was going to make her smile more, she decided.

As she was deep in thought, the group was silent until Sarah fixed Clem with a confused look.

“Hey, Clem, where’s your backpack?”

* * *

“So, basically, it’d be this chair leg with… you’re not even listening to me, are you?” Louis said, glancing at Violet. The blonde, who had been staring across the cafeteria, was brought back to reality when Louis leaned across the table and tapped her on the nose.

“Do you want to die?”

Louis propped his chin on his hand, leaning even closer to Violet. “I only did that because you wouldn’t have responded otherwise. And I needed your attention because I, as your best friend, can tell something’s eating you. So, spill. Talk to uncle Lou.”

Violet rolled her eyes, leaning away from Louis. “First off, never call yourself ‘uncle Lou’ again. Second, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Everything’s fine.”

“Clearly. I mean, it’s not like you’re being even more angsty than usual or anything, silly me. What was I even thinking?” Louis said, punctuating his sentence by popping a fry into his mouth. Violet glared it him.

“I said, it’s nothing.”

Louis raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright.” He paused, licking his lips. “But, you know, if, hypothetically, there was something bothering you, perhaps regarding a certain jock…”

Violet’s glare intensified. Louis just grinned smugly and ate another fry. “So I was right. It is a Clem thing.”

Violet sighed. “Fine. I just… if she didn’t actually want to hang out, she could just say so.”

Louis’ eyes widened. “Um, are we talking about the same Clementine? She seemed pretty happy to talk to you this morning, remember?”

“Yeah, but… I texted her about Saturday, and she didn’t reply. I know she read it, and I get if she just wanted to talk in person, but if that was it, why didn’t she?”

Louis nodded sagely. “Ah, I see what we have here. This is quite a classic situation, actually.”

“Please share your knowledge with the rest of the class, I’m on the edge of my seat,” Violet said drily. Louis rolled his eyes.

“Tough crowd. Alright. You two need to talk. Like, face to face. The basis of any healthy relationship is open communication. Maybe she just forgot to reply.”

“Or, she just doesn’t want to talk to me,” Violet said. Louis sighed.

“Okay, I’m gonna stop you right there. You’re being a Shrek,” He said. Violet jerked up.

“What?” She asked, bewildered.

“You’re being a Shrek,” Louis repeated. Violet shook her head.

“Yeah, I’m still not following. If you’re trying to make me feel better, comparing me to a giant green ogre is not the way to go, Louis.”

“No, I’m saying, the scene in Shrek where Shrek overhears Fiona talking about herself negatively and thinks she’s talking about him, so he gives up on her is a classic example of what happens when you don’t confront people about things that could be misunderstandings. And it stems from people being stubborn and stupid, and while you may be one of the most stubborn people I know, barring myself, you aren’t stupid. So… just, don’t be Shrek!” Louis said. Violet stared at him.

“So… okay, you’re comparing both me and Clementine to ogres. Got it,” She said. Louis rolled his eyes.

“That movie was about self love and- whatever. You’re completely missing the point. Of both the movie and the metaphor. The point is, you two are gonna have a chat before the day is over, sort this out, and realize it was all just a big misunderstanding. And if you don’t talk to her, I’ll lock you in a room together until you do. Capiche?” Louis grinned, eating another fry. Violet rolled her eyes.

“Fine. But only because I know you’d make good on that,” She said. Louis winked.

“Sure, you say that. But you know it’s really because you love me.” Violet snorted, but Louis continued. “You can try to deny it, but you know in your heart that it’s true.”

“Whatever, Louis,” She dismissed him. He was totally right, but she wasn’t going to give Louis the satisfaction of telling him that. That would throw off their entire dynamic. Louis was the one who was all open and upfront with his feelings, and Violet pretended she didn’t have any other than angry, grumpy, and tired. It may not make sense to an outsider, but it worked for them. Who was Violet to change that?

“So, like I was saying, the chair leg! I’d call it Chairles-” Violet groaned, cutting him off.

“Oh my god…”

* * *

Clem dug through her locker for her baseball gear. She could’ve sworn she’d put a backup pair of cleats in there somewhere. She was reaching behind her history textbook when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She spun around quickly and found her face inches away from Violet’s. The blonde looked about as startled as Clem felt, frozen and very aware of the closeness. They stayed like that for a moment, as if they were in a trance. Violet was the first to step back, rubbing the back of her neck nervously, and Clem found herself missing the proximity.

“Hey. Uh, sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Clem grinned easily, but her insides were buzzing. “It’s fine. I was zoned out, not your fault. What’s up?”

“Right. Uh, this is probably dumb, but Louis told me to talk to you, and… did you have any thoughts on the shit I texted you? About Saturday?” Violet asked. Clem’s eyes widened. She had given Violet her number the other day and then…

“Oh my god. I- my phone was stolen. I mean, my whole backpack was stolen, actually. Shit, I am so sorry, it probably felt like I was ignoring you-“

Violet cut her off. “It said you read it, though.”

“What? I didn’t… I didn’t have time to look at it before it was stolen…” Clementine frowned. Had whoever stole her stuff found a way into her phone?

Violet seemed to have the same thought. “Shit, did someone get into your phone?”

“I-I think so. Fuck.”

“Hope you didn’t have anything super private on there. I’m sorry about your phone. And for assuming. I just… get like this sometimes,” Violet shrugged. Clem frowned.

“Like what?”

“Like… I guess I assume the worst of people. I mean, I’m not really the sort of person people like to spend time with, generally. Most people figure that out right away, but sometimes… they don’t. Not until I let them in. And then, when they realize that I’m not someone they want to be around, they leave,” Violet frowned. “If you want to, like, cancel Saturday, I get it. I’ll give you an out, right now,” She said, looking at her feet and seemingly bracing herself for rejection.

Seeing the girl in front of her so vulnerable, Clem questioned anyone who wouldn’t want to spend time with her. Who would leave a person like Violet? She shook her head.

“Violet, that’s… that’s not what I want. At all. I want… to spend time with you,” Clementine said. Violet paused, clearly surprised. She had been expecting Clem to take the out, but that wasn’t something she had wanted at all.

“I- Okay. Thanks. Uh, you’ve got somewhere to be, and I’m keeping you, so I’ll just-“ She started backing away. Clem quickly reached out to stop her.

“No! I mean… we should probably figure out the plans for Saturday, right?” She said. Violet nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

“So, you said you texted me plans the other night. What sort of stuff were you thinking?” Clem asked. Violet shifted.

“I, uh, usually hang out with Louis at the Dairy Queen. You know, the one by the library.”

“Yeah, I do! I used to go there all the time, actually,” Clem sighed. Omid had loved Dairy Queen. He had taken her and Christa there often, but they hadn’t been since his death.

“I was thinking that would be an okay place. If you wanted to go, obviously,” Violet added. Clem smiled.

“Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll ask my friends what times work for them, and you can ask Louis. I’ll let you know tomorrow, alright?” She asked. Violet nodded.

“Okay. Thanks for, you know. Talking. Listening. I know I sometimes have a habit… have a habit of being a little bit too harsh,” She shrugged. “I know I’m not really, like, a people person. I don’t always leave the best impressions.”

Clem grinned. “You come off alright. I thought you were pretty cool.”

Violet’s face flushed slightly, and she quickly looked away. “I, uh- thanks. I guess. You’re pretty cool too, you know. With Becca. I know she’s your friend. You didn’t have to do that.”

Clem shrugged. “Well, friend is a strong word. We’re teammates. She’s…” Clem paused, trying to find the right words to describe Becca. “What she did wasn’t okay, and someone needed to tell her that.”

“I could’ve done it. Would’ve, if you hadn’t showed up,” Violet shrugged. Clem shook her head.

“I don’t want to be in the habit of standing by when I could be doing shit. The world would be a lot better if people acted when they saw someone doing something shitty, rather than expecting someone else to do it.”

“That’s… really cool of you,” Violet said, brushing a strand of her hair away from her face.

“Any good person would do the same thing. I’ve done enough standing around for a lifetime,” Clem laughed, but it lacked humor. Violet seemed to pick up on that, her expression turning serious.

“Still. It’s good that you’re doing it at all. And if it means anything, you stepping in… it meant a lot. To me.”

“I… thanks,” Clem said, smiling gently at the girl opposite her. Violet smiled back, and Clem again found herself in awe how soft she looked. It was funny. Clem had taken notice of Violet almost immediately after she’d started at Ericson’s, and had always seen her as a broody, tough loner. Of course, Clem liked that, but she found herself liking Violet even more, seeing her from a different side. She could definitely get used to seeing that smile more.

The two girls stood like that for a moment, just grinning at each other and probably looking like idiots, before Violet took a step back.

“I guess I’ll leave you to it. I’ll see you around, Clementine,” She said.

“Yeah, see you,” Clem breathed, and then Violet was gone.

* * *

The thing Gabe liked the best about staying late after school was having the hallways to himself. He whistled, bobbing his head and snapping his fingers as he headed from his locker back to the exit. He’d been working on a project for his English class. It was supposed to be a group project, but only he and Omar had showed up, and Omar had to leave early, so he’d ended up doing most of it by himself. He was probably going to give his other two groupmates hell for not even showing up, but for now, he was just glad the project was over.

“Psst! Gabe!”

Gabe jumped and immediately stopped whistling. Shit, he wasn’t alone. That was embarrassing. He quickly looked around for the source of the voice, but he was alone in the hallway. He poked his head into a nearby science room, but it was empty.

“Uh, hello?” He said.

“Over here! In the art room!” Gabe peered into the art room, and sure enough, someone was waving to him from behind a canvas. He ducked into the classroom, stood on his tiptoes and looked over the canvas. Behind it crouched none other than Louis, who was grinning sheepishly up at him.

“No offense, but… what are you doing?” Gabe asked. Louis stood up.

“Sorry, that was probably overly dramatic, but hey. Can’t really help it. Nice tune, by the way.” Gabe’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Anyway, I just wanted to discuss something with you involving your good pal Clementine and my dear friend, Violet,” Louis said with a sweeping motion that nearly knocked over the canvas. Gabe tilted his head, curious.

“Let me guess- Violet has a crush on Clementine,” He said. Louis leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. He had nice arms, Gabe noted. But that wasn’t relevant.

“Well, I’ve been sworn to secrecy…”

“So, what I’m hearing is yes.”

“I… yes. She totally does. And I’m assuming, just judging by their little interaction this morning, the feelings are mutual,” Louis said. Gabe nodded.

“Yeah, Clem’s had a thing for Violet for… a long time,” He said, not even sure himself when Clem had developed feelings for Violet. Louis stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“Right, right… Well that’s certainly good news. Now the tough part is getting them together, especially since it took Becca Keurig for them to even start talking. You think we should write her a little thank you note?” He asked. Gabe raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, hold up. Go back. We’re gonna interfere in their shit? I don’t know, Clem would probably kill me if she found out…”

“Oh, Violet would definitely kill me. For sure. But they’re never gonna know. We’ll keep the meddling to a minimum,” Louis grinned. Gabe nodded slowly.

“Right. Okay. So we’ll give them, like… little pushes towards each other. So they can do the actual getting together on their own,” He said. Louis beamed.

“Exactly! Don’t want to take the fun part away from them. Wait one sec,” He said, pulling out a scrap of paper and scribbling something down. He handed it to Gabe. “Here. It’s my number. Text me, we can scheme together.”

“Okay, cool. I will.”

Louis leaned back on his heels, still grinning brightly. “Cool!” The pair smiled at each other for a moment, before Gabe realized he should probably be getting home. He’d already stayed longer than he had intended, and his dad would be expecting him soon.

“I’ve actually gotta go, but thanks for pulling me back in here,” He said.

“Any time,” Louis winked, and Gabe felt his face heating up. He didn’t want to unpack what that meant, opting instead to back out of the room with a little wave, which Louis returned, before he turned and practically sprinted out of the room.

* * *

Clementine sat in a booth at the cafe by herself, sipping on a cafe latte and glancing up at the clock periodically. Christa had told her to be at the cafe after practice, but she’d arrived ten minutes ago and Christa still hadn’t shown up. She was about ready to give up and head home, when the door swung open. She looked up, and made eye contact with Christa. The woman’s gaze hardened, and Clementine shrank back involuntarily. Of course, she wasn’t really expecting to escape a stern lecture, but a girl could hope.

Christa hurried over, taking a seat across from Clem, her expression set in stone. Clementine swallowed. “Hi, Christa.”

“I was so worried, you have- you have no idea! Last night, on the phone, I was just relieved that you were alright, but never, ever, do that again, Clementine,” Christa said. Clem nodded.

“I know, I never will, and I’m really, really sorry-“ Christa cut her off.

“I’m not done, Clementine. I’m wondering if you’re really responsible enough for some of the privileges you have. I know we discussed your jogs already, but the world is so dangerous, and… I don’t want what happened to Omid to happen to you too,” She said sternly. Clem nodded slowly, considering this. She got where Christa was coming from, and she didn’t really feel like going out and being Spider-Woman any time soon, not after the night before, but she’d been the one who’d decided to take up the mantle. This was her responsibility now. She had to stick with this.

“I… I understand, but-““No, Clementine. I know I said yes before, but with all of these superhumans fighting all over the place… I can’t let you do this anymore. I hope you can understand that.”

Clem sighed. Christa wasn’t budging on this. Little did she know, Clem was one of ‘these superhumans’. “Alright. I’ll stop going out in the mornings,” She said. She had no intention of stopping, but she’d have to be a little more stealthy about it. Christa finally cracked a small smile.

“I appreciate it. And here,” Christa reached into her pocket and slid something across the table to Clementine. “It’s Omid’s flip phone.”

“Thanks,” Clem said, pocketing it.

Christa smiled wistfully. “Of course. Omid hadn’t touched that thing in years… He had it since we were in high school.”

Clem didn’t really know what to say, drinking her coffee as Christa looked past her. After a moment, Christa’s attention returned to Clem. “Sorry, sorry, I just…” She trailed off.

Clementine shook her head. “I understand. I miss him too, but… not like you do,” She said. Christa sighed, and it struck Clem, not for the first time, just how exhausted she looked.

“I… you’re right. I knew him for a long time. Most of my life. And he was… the best thing that ever happened to me. We balanced each other out. I don’t need to tell you that, you’ve seen it firsthand. He’s been the fun one and I’ve been the one with common sense…” She swallowed hard.

“And since he’s been gone, it’s been… there’s been this hole, this emptiness, in everything. In me, in the house, I… when you have someone who means that much to you, who you’ve been through so much with, and then suddenly you don’t… I don’t think that emptiness is ever going to go away. Not really,” Christa said, voice shaking. Clem was reminded of her own parents.

“I get it. Sometimes you don’t think about them for a day, or a week, or a month, but when you do, it- it all comes back, all at once. For just a moment. And it does get better, but it never goes away. I’m sorry.”

Christa shook her head. “It’s not your fault. And just because he was my husband doesn’t mean you didn’t lose him too. Because you did. And you’re allowed to miss him just as much as I do, Clementine.”

Clem nodded wordlessly. She hadn’t realized it, but this was something she had needed to hear from Christa. She had loved Omid, sure, but Christa had chosen to spend her life with him, and that time was cut short. It just felt to Clem like she had lost less, but in reality, she had lost something different. A caretaker. A friend.

“He would… he would want us to take care of each other,” Clem said, her words heavy. Christa nodded.

“He definitely would. He was so… caring. If he were here right now… he’d tell us that everything was okay. And he’d probably joke about it, too. God, he could find the humor in any situation.”

“It was a gift.”

Christa snorted. “I didn’t always see it that way, but yes. It was. Shit, it just… I can’t believe that a man as good as Omid could go out the way he did. So senselessly.”

“I know.”  
Christa fixed Clem with a firm gaze. “Clementine, I want you to promise me. If you find someone who makes you feel good about yourself, who makes you feel like things are going to be okay even if they’re falling apart… you treasure every moment with them, alright?”

Clementine suddenly found herself thinking of Violet. She hadn’t known her for long, but she had a feeling in her gut that she would be sticking around. Clem swallowed hard, nodding firmly. “I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soo i hope u guys enjoyed! as always, comments and kudos are appreciated and motivate me to work on this, so feel free to drop one if u feel like it haha. also, again, let me know whether or not you would be interested in a blog for this fic, and have a GREAT day :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's not a date if u invite all ur friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops this took a while..
> 
> quick note: i made a tumblr for this au!! it's @utcb-spider-clem and i post wordcount and chapter updates! also, i'm open to answering asks about this au if any of y'all send some in.... *eyes emoji*
> 
> aLSO!! i'm kinda conflicted on which side pairings to include in this story because i have a bad case of multishipping, so i made a strawpoll! if you have an opinion on side pairings, feel free to pick a couple that you'd be interested in seeing! here's the link:
> 
> https://www.strawpoll.me/17837855
> 
> anyway, thank you all for being patient while i worked on this, and i hope u enjoy the new chapter!!

In the days leading up to the not-date with Violet, things were relatively uneventful for Clem. The Scorpion thankfully didn’t make another appearance. Clem was grateful for that, as she definitely needed the time to recollect herself after her somewhat humiliating and humbling defeat. The St. Johns were still in jail, and it looked like they’d stay there for a while, which was a welcome change of pace. Gabe’s dad had done his job well, as Clem had hoped.

On Friday, she picked up her suit from Gabe’s house, washed the blood out, and even took a couple afternoon swings around the city. Despite still being more than a little shaken from her fight with the Scorpion, she managed to stop a mugging and a bike theft, plus, she helped an old woman carry a precarious stack of library books. Not exactly the same level of intensity as battling the Scorpion or the St. Johns, but it eased her back into the crime-fighting swing.

Speaking of the Scorpion, a video of their fight had surfaced online. It was shaky phone camera footage, but it was clear enough to show the world that she’d gotten her ass handed to her in record time. People weren’t exactly thrilled that she had lost, but hey, neither was she. People were just scared of the unknown, and they were taking it out on her. Clem could understand that. She was an easy target, some people seemed to be looking for reasons to hate her. Still, she was determined not to lose again. She didn’t want her reputation to take another blow. There was a lot of speculation online surrounding the Scorpion’s motivations and goals, which Clem was somewhat keeping up with. As a rule, she didn’t take internet forums particularly seriously. When half of them were picking apart her every move, it was probably best not to give them too much credit.

Christa bought Clementine a new backpack to replace the one she’d lost, and she filled it with fresh copies of the worksheets that had been in the old one. It was going to be a pain in the ass to do them over again, but hey, at least she’d know the material twice as well. She was concerned about whoever was reading her texts, but that was all they seemed to be doing. Nobody had gotten any strange texts from her as far as she could tell, and she had changed the passwords on all of her accounts. There wasn’t really anything else she could do about it without making it a big deal. If things got worse, she could always figure something out. Maybe she could get Brody’s help. She was good with technology. But for now, she had bigger fish to fry.

Clementine’s neighbors, Alvin and Rebecca, had asked her to babysit their kid on Saturday. Thankfully, plans weren’t finalized for the Dairy Queen trip, so she’d been able to fit both into her schedule. She would spend the morning with AJ, and the afternoon with her friends.

Clem arrived at AJ’s house in good spirits, her new backpack swung over one shoulder. She knocked on the door, and not even a second passed before it swung open. Rebecca stood on the other side, looking down at her with a warm smile on her face.

“Hey, Clementine. Alvin and I are just about ready, come on in while he puts on his shoes. AJ’s been so excited to see you.”

“I’m excited to see him too. It’s been a while,” Clem said, stepping through the doorway. Rebecca shot her a warm smile. The two hadn’t gotten off on the right foot at first- Clem and Duck kinda sorta messed up Rebecca’s flowerbeds once when they were younger- but that was in the past. Clem and Duck replanted the flowers and brought Rebecca and Alvin homemade cookies (Duck’s mom helped them with that part). Luke vouched for them, and they had been forgiven.

As she was recalling her history with the woman in front of her, Clem heard the telltale patter of feet on the stairs. She turned just in time to see AJ practically throwing himself at her. She stumbled back, before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He tilted his head up and beamed at her. He’d grown a couple inches since she’d last seen him, and his hair was longer. How long had it been since she’d seen him? It couldn’t have been more than a month. Kids grow fast, Clem figured. She smiled back at him.

“Clem! You’re here!” AJ said. He always got so excited to see her. She hoped he never grew out of that excitement, but Clem knew firsthand how the sweetest kids often become the moodiest in middle school.

“I am, kiddo. Dang, you’re strong.”

AJ nodded proudly, puffing out his chest. “The strongest.”

“We’re gonna have so much fun while your parents are out,” She winked, lowering her voice to whisper, “Just don’t tell them that.”

AJ giggled. “Clem, my mom’s right there, she’s gonna hear you!”

Rebecca smiled fondly at the pair, before crossing her arms and putting on a mock-serious face that reminded Clem all too much of their first interacitions. “That’s right, Clementine. If I hear anything about you two having any fun, you are going to be in big trouble!”

Clementine grinned at her. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be on strict no-fun orders.”

Alvin appeared at the top of the stairs. Clem had always liked Alvin. He gave her and Duck juice boxes when they’d replanted Rebecca’s flowerbeds. “Hey, Clementine,” He said, making his way down to them. His wife smiled at him when he reached the bottom, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

“Don’t you look nice.”

Alvin let out a deep chuckle. “You’re making me blush, Becca.”

Rebecca didn’t reply, instead opting for a quick kiss on the lips, at which AJ groaned. “Gross. Love,” He said. Clementine grinned.

“Love’s a good thing, kiddo,” She said. AJ shrugged.

“Maybe. Not when it’s in front of me, though. Then it’s just gross.”

Clem grinned fondly and shook her head. “Sure thing, goofball.” AJ nodded firmly.

“Yeah,” He looked at his parents impatiently, crossing his arms over his chest. “Okay, you can leave now. Go love each other somewhere else.”

Alvin laughed. “Alright, alright. We’ll get out of your hair.”

Rebecca frowned sternly. “And don’t be too much trouble for Clem, AJ.”

AJ smiled up at his mom innocently. “I won’t!”

“He’s never anything but an angel,” Clementine said. “Now go! Have fun!”

As soon as the couple were out the door, Clem felt AJ tugging on her sleeve. She looked down at the younger boy.

“What is it, goofball?” She asked. AJ grinned.

“I wanna play raiders!” He said. This was one of AJ’s favorite games. Clem smiled down at him.

“Alright. Who do you want me to be?”  
“You can be a raider. Disco Broccoli can be your pri… pris…”

“Prisoner.”

“Right. He can be your prisoner,” AJ said firmly. Clem nodded.

“Okay. He’ll be in jail behind the couch, and you can fight me to get him back.”

AJ ran to fetch something from a nearby closet, returning with two nerf guns in hand. He gave the bigger one to Clementine.

“Because you’re bigger, and a raider, you get the bigger weapon. Mine’s the better one though, because you’re the bad guy. Stealing people is wrong,” AJ said. Clem nodded.

“Right,” She put Disco Broccoli behind the couch, before turning back to AJ. “Okay, you’ve got to sneak into our base now.”

AJ shook his head. “Not base. You’re on a boat.”

Clem cocked an eyebrow. “Why a boat?”

“Prisoners can’t get away from you when you’re in the middle of the water. Plus, it’s safer.”

“What do you mean?”

“The zombies are all at the bottom of the water, or they’re on land. They can’t walk on water, Clem,” He giggled. AJ loved playing zombies, too. Seems he’d combined two of his favorite games. Clementine was reminded of her days as a warrior princess and smiled at him.

“Oh, so there’s zombies, too?”

AJ nodded firmly. “Yep. Lots of zombies. But I’m tougher than them.”

“You’re way tougher, kiddo. The toughest kid I know.”

AJ beamed proudly. “Okay, now I’m gonna hide, and you’ve gotta be surprised by me when I come.”

“Got it,” Clem smiled, and AJ ducked around the corner and out of sight. After a few beats, Clem heard the floorboards creaking. She turned away from the doorway, pretending not to have noticed him, until she heard AJ right behind her. She spun around, feigning surprise.

“Grr! I’m an angry raider!” She said, and AJ dropped his nerf gun and looked at her blankly. Immediately, Clem knew she had overdone it.

“Clem, that’s not what raiders sound like.”

Clem placed her hand on her hip. “Okay, kiddo. What do they sound like, then?”

AJ frowned, considering this. “They sound like… like normal people. Just, they steal kids. And they’re bad.”

Clem nodded fondly. “Right. Okay, we’ll try it again then.”

“Good.”

AJ hid again, and when he returned, this time she merely glared at the boy, raising her nerf gun.

“Drop your weapon,” She said brusquely. AJ shook his head defiantly.

“No! Not until I get my friend back!”

“You’re gonna have to go through me to get him!” Clementine shot at AJ with the nerf gun before jumping onto the couch. She was careful not to jump too high with her powers, just enough to get over the back. AJ giggled, ducking down behind an end table. Clem crouched down and crept slowly toward him. She was a couple feet away when she felt an instinct to dodge. It took a moment to process, and in that moment, AJ popped up from behind the table, raised the nerf gun, and fired. The bullet hit her directly in the stomach. Clementine collapsed dramatically and pretended to die.

“You’re a good shot, kid… real good. Oh, the pain, the pain!” Clem felt a pang of guilt as she said it, reminded of the man who she’d watched die the other day. She pushed that feeling down, focusing on AJ instead. Now wasn’t the time.

“I got you!” AJ said, before repeatedly shooting Clem. She laughed, bringing her hands up to cover her face as AJ bombarded her with bullets. They kind of hurt, but it was nothing, really. Not when just the other day, she’d been soaked in blood, drugged, and passed out on a roof. This was just a kid shooting her with nerf bullets. Lots and lots of nerf bullets. When he’d finally used them all up, he jumped over her and grabbed Disco Broccoli, holding the toy over his head triumphantly. “And now I got Disco Broccoli!”

Clem laughed. “You sure did. You run a good rescue mission, kiddo.”

AJ puffed out his chest proudly. “Yeah I do. The best.”

Clementine sat up, a couple nerf bullets falling to the floor in the process. He’d shot her more times than she’d thought.

“So, what’s next?”

AJ lit up. “Now, we can play pirates!”

* * *

After playing pirates (Clem was AJ’s rival captain), another round of raiders (this time, both Beet Nick and Disco Broccoli had been captured), playing a board game, and coloring for a bit, AJ asked to watch TV. Clem turned on some cartoons, reruns of a show about talking animals, and headed to the kitchen to figure out a lunch for AJ. He was a picky kid, so making lunch for him was tough. She typically tried to be creative, before settling on just peanut butter and jelly. She was about to grab a knife for the peanut butter, when AJ called her from the other room.

“Clem?” His tone was a lot more subdued than it had been a few moments before, and was immediately concerned.

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“Could… could you come over here?”

Clementine frowned. Come to think of it, she didn’t hear the typical bubbly cartoon noises. It sounded more like a news anchor. Immediately, her mind went to the worst-case scenario. There were a lot of disturbing things on the news, who knows what AJ could be watching. “Okay,” she said, abandoning the open silverware drawer and stepping into the living room. Sure enough, she saw that the TV was no longer showing cartoons, but footage of Spider-Woman. Of her. Her stomach twisted.

“AJ, did you change the channel?”

He nodded.

“Why’d you do that, kiddo?”

AJ shrugged. “I like Spider-Woman. She protects people. She’s like the people in cartoons, but real.”

Clem frowned. “I don’t know, goofball. Real life isn’t like cartoons.”

“I know,” AJ said, turning back to the TV. Clem’s glanced back at the screen and froze. The footage was shaky, but she immediately recognized this scene. This was right before the fight with the Scorpion. It was video that had surfaced online. Clementine wanted to change the channel, but she felt frozen in place, compelled to watch despite knowing what came next.

She and AJ watched wordlessly as she was quickly taken down by the Scorpion, before swinging jerkily out of sight. Clem swallowed hard. She got why people were upset about her. She’d failed. Nothing bad had happened because of it this time, but next time, she might not be so lucky. The fact that people had died before the fight and not after didn’t seem to matter to most people. She could’ve been there sooner, could’ve saved more people. And honestly? She agreed with them. She’d signed up for this, it was her job to protect the people of the city no matter what. And she’d failed.

The screen switched to the weather, and the room was quiet for a moment, save for the weatherman narrating next week’s forecast. Clem had watched that video over and over when she’d first found it, and by now, she knew it by heart. There were a couple of minutes of her and the Scorpion yelling back and forth, and though the audio on the clip was distorted, she remembered exactly what they’d both said.

That was her first mistake. She’d let him talk. People like him loved an audience, and she’d given him one. Then, he swiped at her, and she ducked out of the way a second too late, which was her second mistake. She’d ignored her Spider-Sense.

That enhanced instinct hadn’t lead her wrong so far. In fact, it had lead her to save Violet once, and if she’d only paid attention to it, it would’ve saved her own ass more than once. Clem was definitely going to listen to it from then on, no hesitation.

Still, it didn’t change that she’d messed up during that fight. What she wouldn’t do for a time machine. Why couldn’t she have been bitten by a radioactive… clock, and not a spider? She could go back and save Omid… her parents…

AJ broke the silence, pulling her back to earth. That was probably for the best. She’d gone down that train of thought far too many times, and it was never productive.

“She lost.”

Clem nodded. “Yeah. She did.”

AJ frowned, crossing his arms. “I still like her, though. She’ll probably win next time, because she’s a good guy.”

Clem paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. “I don’t know, kiddo. Just because good guys always win in cartoons doesn’t mean they will in real life.”

AJ nodded. “I know. But she’s smart. I can tell, because I’m smart too. And if she’s smart like me, she’ll figure out how to beat him. Like, he’s all clunky in that suit. Maybe she’ll get him someplace tight so he gets stuck. Or, she’ll get rid of the suit. I don’t think he’s got any powers, so then he’ll just be a guy, and she fights guys all the time. Easy.”

Those were… surprisingly good ideas, coming from a six year old. “Huh. Maybe you’re right, goofball. You’re a pretty smart kid.”

“I know.”

“You do?” Clem said, raising an eyebrow. She honestly should’ve expected that. AJ nodded.

“Yep. I do a lot of thinking.”

“About what?”

“Everything. There’s a lot to think about, Clem. I can’t pick.”

Clem nodded thoughtfully. After a moment, AJ spoke again.

“Are you okay?” He asked. Clem smiled. AJ really could read her.

“Yeah, I guess I was just doing some thinking, too.”

AJ frowned. “Well, don’t do too much. When I think a lot, my head hurts, and if your head hurts, you can’t play with me. Or get me food.” He paused. ”I’m kinda hungry now, Clem.”

“Huh. I think… I think I really needed to hear that. Thanks, kiddo.”

“You’re welcome. Can I have lunch?” AJ asked. Clem relaxed, glad that the conversation was moving in a different direction. She still didn’t really want to talk about Spider-Woman, even if AJ had given her a couple of good ideas. Somehow, a six year old was smarter than a bunch of internet conspiracy theorists. Maybe that wasn’t that surprising, actually. She sighed contentedly.

“Alright, goofball. One peanut butter and jelly sandwich coming right up.”

AJ frowned up at her. “With the crusts cut off?” She nodded.

“With the crusts cut off.”

“Thanks, Clem.” He beamed, leaning back into the sofa and switching the channel back. ”You’re the best.”

Clementine smiled fondly. “Thanks, goofball. You’re the best, too.”

* * *

By the time AJ’s parents returned from their brunch date, AJ had finished his sandwich and a carton of chocolate milk. From what she heard from Alvin and Rebecca, the date had been a nice break from the rest of their lives. Seeing couples like Alvin and Rebecca made Clem smile. They were still so in love with each other even after years of being together. At times, they reminded her of her own parents…

Alvin handed Clem a little cash on her way out the door and thanked her for watching AJ.

“It was my pleasure. AJ’s a good kid,” Clem smiled. Rebecca nodded proudly.

“Damn right he is.”

Clem had about a half an hour left before she had to be at Dairy Queen, which was more time than she needed, but not quite enough to do anything. There was never any harm in being a little early She began the short walk to Dairy Queen, passing by Luke and Nick’s house. The pair were relaxing on their porch together, a six pack of beer between them. Luke saw Clem and lit up, waving her over. Having time to spare, she headed down their walkway and hoisted herself into a sitting position the railing of the porch.

“Hey, Clem. How’re you holding up?” Luke cracked a somewhat goofy grin. He had a smile like a golden retriever’s, and it was contagious as fuck. Clementine couldn’t help smiling back.

“I’m good. How about you guys?” She asked. Luke lifted his beer and gestured around the porch.

“I’m as happy as I look. It’s a damn beautiful day, I’m with my damn beautiful husband, and I got a damn beautiful beer.” Clem raised an eyebrow at that, and Luke laughed. “Okay, maybe not a beautiful beer. It’s no prettier than any other beer. Sorry, beer.”

“I’m glad. That you’re happy, not about the beer,” Clem said, which elicited another laugh from Luke. While he was busy getting himself under control, Nick shifted his body so that he was facing Clem.

“So, what’re you up to?” He asked. Clem shrugged nonchalantly.

“I’m gonna hang out with a couple of friends.”

Luke tilted his head, having stopped laughing. “Yeah?”

Clementine nodded, swinging her legs lazily. “Yeah. You know Violet, right? I mean, we’re in the same art class, so I figure you would, but…” She trailed off, not quite sure where she was going with that. Somehow, even thinking of Violet had her tripping over herself.

Luke grinned, seeming not to take notice of her sudden awkwardness. “I sure do. She’s a hell of an artist, draws the most detailed portraits.” Clem’s insides fluttered at that. Of course she’d seen Violet drawing before, but she’d never actually gotten a good look at anything she’d done. Nobody was obligated to share their work with anyone other than Luke, as per his policy (“It brings in a lot more shy artists. They’ll end up sharing their work when they’re ready, we just need to give em time.”), and Violet had always kept her art to herself. Clementine forced herself to stop wondering what she’d look like if Violet drew her and instead responded to Luke.

“Well, I asked her if she wanted to hang out, and she asked if Louis could come, so I said yes and invited my friends too.”

Luke and Nick shared a quick glance that Clem couldn’t read. “I always thought you two would get along,” Luke said. There was something in his voice that Clementine couldn’t quite decipher, but she disregarded it. He was being odd, but hey. It was Luke, what else was she expecting?

“Yeah, she’s really cool. I’ve always sort of admired her, y’know? Like, she doesn’t really give a shit, right? Plus, she’s got a really cool style. I’m glad I finally talked to her. Even if the circumstances were kinda rough.”

Luke’s forehead creased. “The circumstances?”

“Oh, this girl was being rude to her. Totally out of line. I stepped in, and when the girl was gone, I asked Violet if she wanted to get lunch or something as an apology for getting involved, you know? In case she didn’t want my help. She seemed fine with it, thankfully. She did take me up on the offer though. Thankfully.”

“Who? Do I know her?”

Clem frowned. “Uh, probably. I don’t know that Violet would want you getting involved, though.” Luke nodded, taking a sip of his beer.

“Yeah, I get it. I wouldn’t want a teacher’s help either. But if she does, or it gets worse, let me know, alright?”

Clem nodded, fiddling with the rim of her worn baseball cap. “I will, thanks Luke,” She paused, realizing it was getting kind of late. “I should probably get going, actually. It was nice talking with you guys!” Clementine pushed herself back off of the railing and into the grass.

“See ya later, Clem. And Have fun with your friends!” Luke’s eyes twinkled. Clem grinned.

“I will,” She said, waving goodbye to the two men and continuing her walk. As she crossed the street, she considered again the fact that Gabe knew her secret. The dork who could barely keep his mouth shut about the surprise birthday party they threw for Duck in eighth grade was the only one privy to her deepest secret.. Sure, he was loyal to a fault, but… she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made the right decision in telling him.

Was he in more danger now? Would he risk something for her? Would he end up accidentally spilling the beans to the wrong person? Or was he safer now that he was in the know? Was she? Should she tell the rest of the people in her life? Shit, she really had no clue what she was doing.

All of this was so new to her. Being Spider-Woman, having a secret identity, telling people about her powers… God, all of it. There was no set of rules, no guidebook, no YouTube tutorial. Clem was flying blind. And her worry that she was doing it all wrong plagued her constantly.

She could only hope against hope that she wasn’t screwing everything up royally.

Clementine walked the final block to Dairy Queen at a brisk pace. The mid-October weather was a little chillier than it had been, and Clem had left her jacket at home. As she closed in on the neon sign, she was almost jogging. Clem was so focused on getting to warmth that she practically bumped right into someone coming from the other direction. Clem looked up to apologize for almost knocking them over, pausing for a moment as she registered the other person as Violet. Her brain short circuited as she realized just how close they were. Clementine could feel Violet’s breath in her face. She could practically lean over and…

“Shit, sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Violet spoke first. Clem shook her head as if to clear it of gay thoughts. It did not work.

“You’re fine, neither was I. You’re okay, right?”

Violet nodded, her gaze intense. “Fine. So, uh, you ready?”

“Yeah. I’ve… been looking forward to this all week, actually,” Clementine admitted. Violet’s eyes widened for a moment, but she looked away quickly. She rubbed the back of her neck for a moment, before her arm dropped back to her side.

“Oh, uh. Cool. Me too.”

Was that too much? It felt like too much, and now Violet probably thought so too, and-

There was a hand resting on her arm. Violet’s hand, on her arm.

“Hey, you okay?” She asked, clearly concerned. Clementine’s fears melted away. She was being ridiculous. Violet wasn’t going to judge her. Violet was cool, and definitely not a dick, and normally Clem wouldn’t be worried about this sort of thing. Of course, the difference was that she didn’t normally have a crazy intense crush on the people she talked to. Yeah, that crush thing was probably it. Definitely.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks,” She said, glancing down at Violet’s hand. The touch was reassuring. Violet seemed to realize that her hand hadn’t moved from Clem’s arm at the same moment she had, and quickly pulled back. Clem had to keep herself from sighing aloud. She wished that Violet had kept it there for just a little longer, already missing the closeness.

Violet tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, which was probably one of the cutest things Clementine had ever seen. 

“Do you want to go inside?”

Clem nodded, looking to the door. “Sure.”

They got a booth by the wall, where they had a good view of the door. They decided to hold off on getting food until everyone else arrived, so they could eat at the same time. Clem shifted in her seat. She glanced at Violet, who was sitting across from her.

“Thanks for agreeing to this. I’ve actually wanted to get to know you better for a while now,” She said after a moment. Violet looked up, caught slightly off guard.

“You have?”

“I mean… yes. You’ve got a kind of… impressive attitude, you know? Like you don’t give a shit what other people think.”

Violet glanced down. “I do, though. Give a shit.”

“I guess everyone does,” Clem said. Violet nodded, leaning onto her elbow.

“Mhm…”

A beat passed, and just as Violet opened her mouth to say something else, the door swung open, the sound of jangling bells bringing with it Gabe and Louis. The pair were chatting animatedly and looked like old friends at that point. Clem and Violet shared a quick glance, communicating their confusion wordlessly. When did those two happen? Clementine decided not to question it. At least they didn’t have to worry about them getting along anymore. They clearly had it covered.

The pair seated themselves, Louis next to Violet and Gabe next to Clem. After a moment of silence, Louis spread his arms wide and grinned.

“Welcome to the realm of the Dairy Queen, companions,” he said. His statement was met with various looks of bewilderment.

“What?” Violet said finally. Louis shrugged.

“I don’t know! I needed to say something before things got awkward,” He said, and Violet rolled her eyes.

“Too late, Lou.”

Louis huffed. “I know you love me.” Violet merely scoffed, and Louis turned to face Clem and Gabe. “She loves me.”

Gabe grinned. “Clearly.”

Violet leaned back, putting her hands behind her head and exposing her arms. Huh. She had nice arms. Clem felt her face flushing slightly, and forced herself to pay attention to what was going on around her.

The blonde looked at Louis. “Well, I can officially say that wasn’t the craziest thing I’ve heard you say.”

Clem cocked an eyebrow, intrigued. “Really? What was?”

Violet grinned. “Where do I start? He says the weirdest shit.”

Louis placed a hand over his heart. “I’m entertaining!”

Violet snorted. “If by entertaining you mean annoying, then yeah. You’re super entertaining.”

“Cut him some slack. I think he’s funny,” Gabe spoke up. Clementine gave him an incredulous look.

“Gabe, you think the jokes on laffy taffy wrappers are funny,” She said, before looking back to Louis. “But I agree. You’re pretty funny.”

Louis grinned at Violet triumphantly. “See? Clem thinks I’m funny AND pretty.”

Violet rolled her eyes again. “Whatever.”

A short moment later, Duck announced his presence to the occupants of the Dairy Queen (their little group, an exhausted looking girl at the counter, and an older man eating a burger) with a loud whoop. Sarah trailed in behind him, apologizing quietly to the woman at the counter.

“So, are we getting food or what? I’m starving,” Duck groaned. Sarah frowned, her forehead crinkling.

“You’re always hungry.”

“Of course I am! I’m an athlete, Sarah, I work up an appetite!” Duck said indignantly. Gabe feigned shock.

“Wow, Duck. I didn’t know you knew such big words. Appetite! That’s a lot for you.”

Duck flushed and looked down. “Shut up.”

Louis coughed. “I’m with the dude. I’m ready to order!” Duck shot him an appreciative look as they got up to get their food. When they got to the counter, however, nobody was there to take their orders. Sarah glared at Duck.

“You scared her off!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Guys, shut up!” Gabe said, shooting them a pointed glance. The pair realized that they were standing in the middle of a Dairy Queen with two of their classmates who they didn’t know particularly well, not chilling in Duck’s basement, and they sobered up. Clementine shook her head fondly. Her friends were all dorks.

For a good thirty seconds, the group stood at the counter, not quite sure of what to do. Just as Clem was about to suggest they sit back down, someone came out from the back who she recognized instantly.

“Ben!” Both she and Violet said simultaneously. Clem turned to Violet, whose face was scrunched up in mild confusion.

“You know Ben?” She asked. Violet nodded.

“Yeah. We’re cousins, actually.”

Clem grinned. “Huh. Yeah, I can see the resemblance now.” She played with a strand of her hair. “Ben was my babysitter for a couple years.”

Ben waved shyly. “Hey guys.” Before anyone could say anything else, Duck pushed past the rest of them to order.

“Could I get an original double cheeseburger, a chili cheese dog, an order of fries… no, two orders of fries…” Clem sent him a pointed glare, and she wasn’t the only one. Oblivious to the looks he was getting, Duck continued ordering just about half the menu before turning to the rest of the group.

“Okay, who’s next?” After no one said anything for a moment, he frowned. “What? I said I was hungry.”

Gabe rolled his eyes, but stepped forward. After they had all ordered, they moved off to the side to wait. Clem glanced over at Violet. The blonde was looking off to the side and worrying her lower lip. Clementine felt herself smiling in spite of herself. Obviously, she’d always thought Violet was pretty, but somehow she was even prettier up close. Violet turned and caught her eye. Clem panicked for a split second, but then Violet cracked a soft smile and Clem’s insides got all fluttery. That smile was probably the cutest thing she’d ever seen, and she used to foster puppies, so that was saying something.

Clementine turned to see Louis and Gabe, who had clearly been looking at them, quickly look away. She was immediately suspicious, but before she could do anything, Ben had returned with their food.

They each took their trays back to the table, Duck doing some sort of weird balancing act with his food. For a moment after they got settled they were quiet as they dug in. Then Louis broke the silence.

“So. Clem,” he started, “Tell me something interesting about yourself.”

Clem frowned, caught off guard. “I don’t know… what would you consider interesting?”

Duck grinned deviously. That was the grin Duck had before he was either about to get himself (and probably Clem by association) in trouble, or embarrass her. This time, it was definitely the latter.

“Oh, I know quite a few interesting things about you, Clementine Parker.”

Clem glared at him.

“I swear to god, if you even mention that salt lick-“

“Okay, so one time, Clem and I were at this barn and-“

“Stop.”

“-and there was this pile of, like, grey bricks next to us-“

“Duck, I’m not kidding.”

“-and she asked what they were-“

“I’m going to knock your drink on the floor.”

“-and the dude at the barn said they were called salt licks, and you know know what Clem did?”

Louis’s eyes widened. “Dude, she didn’t.”

Duck nodded. “She so did. She-“

“Don’t.”

“She licked it!”

“Kenneth Junior.”

Gabe whooped. “Damn, she brought out the full name! You’re a dead man.”

Duck shrugged. “Whatever, I got to embarrass Clem, so my life’s complete.”

Clem groaned, her head dropping to the table with a soft thud.

“That’s totally cute though. Right, Vi?” Louis asked, nudging his friend. Clem immediately glanced back up to gauge the other girl’s reaction. Violet seemed slightly flustered for some reason, but nodded.

“Um, yeah. That’s cute, it’s a cute story,” She said, returning to her chicken strips, but not before sending Louis an intense glare that Clem couldn’t decipher. She wondered what that was about, but before she could puzzle it over, Sarah raised her hand and started talking.

“If you think that’s cute, then you don’t even want to know about her emo phase in middle school!” Sarah added helpfully. Clem gave her a betrayed look and Violet choked on her milkshake.

Louis raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Do tell.”

Duck lit up. “It was so good. She didn’t wear anything other than black for, like, a year and a half.”

Louis leaned back. “Wow… I can kinda see it.”

Sarah nodded. “Oh right, that was how Clem and Gabe became friends!”

Louis’s eyes widened and he turned to look at Gabe. “You mean to tell me that Gabe had an emo phase too?”

Duck nodded. “The emo-est.”

“Guys, seriously?” Gabe said, sinking into his seat. Clem felt that. She really felt that.

“Dude, I am here for this! Please tell me you have pictures. Of both of them,” Louis said. Clem groaned and dropped her head onto the table.

Duck laughed. “Oh, I so do.”

“Duck, I’m gonna fight you,” Gabe said.

Duck laughed. “I’d like to see you try… Oh, and here’s my favorite picture.”

Clem immediately knew which picture it was, but craned her neck to see anyway. Louis choked back laughter, while Violet’s face flushed bright red.

“That’s… wow,” Louis said. Duck nodded enthusiastically.

“I know, right?”

Gabe glared. “I’m not kidding. We’re fighting outside.”

“Why don’t we get our dads to fight? If you’re so confident in your dad’s ability, do you trust him to defend you honor?”

Sarah sighed, resigned. “Oh, we’re doing this again.”

Louis frowned at her. “Again? Meaning, this is something that they discuss often?”

Clem nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. It is.”

“Wow.”

The squabbling paused as someone new entered the restaurant. Duck waved them over excitedly, and Clementine recognized Marlon, Duck’s teammate, by his scruffy mullet. She had always thought it looked like a dead rat, but she wasn’t about to say that to his face. He grinned at Duck.

“Hey, Duck. You’re coming to my party next week, right?” He asked, shoving his hands in the pockets of his worn jeans. Duck nodded.

“Of course! Hey, we should all go together!” Duck said, looking around the table. Clem noticed that Violet’s expression had soured, and when she looked over at Louis, noted that he looked unusually tense. She glanced back to Marlon, who appeared to have just noticed Louis and Violet sitting at the table. He suddenly took a more neutral tone, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Oh. Hey, Violet. Louis.”

“Hi Marlon,” Louis said, not meeting his eyes. Violet didn’t respond, merely glaring at the boy. Clementine ate a french fry.

There was an extremely awkward silence hanging over the table for a moment. Duck coughed into his hand, which snapped Marlon out of his daze.

“Uh, yeah. Anyway. See you at practice,” He said quickly, heading to the counter. Louis’s eyes followed him the whole way.

Even after Marlon left with his food, the atmosphere at the table was somewhat off, the weird interaction from moments before hanging over them. After the long and uncomfortable silence, Violet sighed audibly and glanced at Louis.

“I’m halfway done. Trade?”

Louis nodded and brightened slightly. “Deal.”

Violet slid her chocolate shake over to him, and he passed her his vanilla one. He took a sip and sighed.

“Ah, that’s nice. Remind me why I don’t buy the chocolate shake first?”

Violet rolled her eyes. “Because then you drink it all before we can swap.” Louis shrugged.

“Right now, that’s sounding pretty good to me.”

“Well it’s a shit deal for me, so, we’re not changing it.”

And like that, the mood was back up. Thanks to Violet. Clem smiled. It was kinda cute that she knew Louis so well. They were good friends. How well people treat their friends is a pretty good judge of character in Clem’s book.

They clicked as a group pretty quickly. Despite her friends going out of their way to embarrass her for whatever reason, she didn’t feel any judgement from Violet or Louis. As a matter of fact, the two joined in. Louis announced that Violet slept with stuffed animals (which was totally adorable, in Clem’s opinion). Violet, in retaliation, told them that Louis pours the milk before the cereal. When Duck gave an admittedly strikingly accurate impression of Principal Carver, Violet snorted out loud, and Clem just about felt herself ascending to heaven right then and there. That laugh was the most adorable thing she’d ever witnessed.

Sooner than she’d like, however, it was over. Sarah’s dad needed her home, and Duck was her ride, so they left. Then, Louis announced that he ought to be getting back as well.

“Not that I wouldn’t love to stay a couple extra minutes with you lovely people, but I’ve got to feed my cat at the right time or she’ll kill me in her sleep.” He said, getting to his feet. Gabe quickly rose as well.

“Which direction are you headed?” He asked, and Louis pointed to the left. Gabe grinned. “Hey, me too! We should walk together.”

Louis grinned. “That sounds great.”

Clem shot Gabe an incredulous glance. He knew she liked Violet, how could he leave her alone with the blonde? Gabe merely shrugged and grinned smugly. He had planned this. Of course. Clem rolled her eyes at him as they left, before turning back to Violet.

“Thanks for agreeing to do this. I had a good time, and I think everyone else did, too,” Clem smiled. Violet nodded.

“Yeah, it was… it was really nice,” Violet sighed, looking down. “I don’t really put myself out there much, but I’m glad I did this time. It’s nice having a conversation with someone who doesn’t base their entire zombie apocalypse plan on a stupid pun.”

Clem laughed. “Really? That’s so… Louis.”

“Yeah… He’s an idiot, but he’s stuck by me through a lot of shit. I can put up with stupid puns if they’re his stupid puns, y’know?” Violet leaned back against the booth. Clem thought of Gabe and Duck and nodded.

“I get what you mean.”

They were quiet for a beat. The air around them felt loaded with something that Clem couldn’t put a name on, but whatever it was, it was intense. She looked directly at Violet, and it was probably the longest she’d let herself look at the other girl. Violet stared back at her, and Clementine noticed for the first time just how green her eyes were. They were really pretty, she thought. She’d always liked green, though not quite as much as she’d liked purple. She cracked a small smile at that, which must have caught Violet’s attention, because then the girl’s eyes flicked down momentarily. Was she… did Violet just look at her lips? Clem brushed away that thought, and all other thoughts, as Violet smiled softly back at her.

“You wanna head out?” She asked. Clem nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” She stood up, although she didn’t remember telling her legs to do that. On autopilot, she threw out her trash and held the door for Violet, who grinned at her.

“Thanks.”

She followed the other girl out onto the street. They walked in comfortable silence for a moment, although there was so much that Clementine wanted to say. She wanted to get to know the girl next to her, had wanted to for months. Now, she finally had the chance to, but nothing was coming out. Violet was the one who ended up breaking the silence.

“I’m pretty sure Louis has a crush on Gabe,” She said, clearly amused at the thought. Clementine nodded.

“And I’m willing to bet it’s not one-sided, judging by the looks Gabe was giving him today.”

Violet laughed softly. “How much do you bet they don’t get together for another… two months?”

“Okay, you’re giving them too much credit. Two and a half.”

“I’m banking on Louis accidentally telling Gabe he likes him. It’s exactly the sort of dumb shit he’d do,” Violet said fondly. Clem nodded.

“Yes, but Gabe would totally think he was joking or something. He’s oblivious like that,” She said. Violet raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. In middle school, he had this huge crush on me. I mean, to be fair, I was totally clueless too. Looking back, it was obvious to everyone else that he liked me and that I was totally not interested, but to the two of us? We knew nothing. Duck and Sarah have so many stories about times he was being super forward, I thought he was being friendly, and both of us just… didn’t get it at all.”

Violet laughed. “I can picture that. The two of you, with emo haircuts, wearing all black-“

Clem groaned. “Stop... I can’t believe they told you about that…”. Violet simply laughed harder. Clem rolled her eyes. “Go ahead, laugh.”

“Sorry, sorry… I just… picturing the Clementine Parker having an emo phase… it’s a lot.”

Clem smiled. “I mean, it was middle school. Everyone was a little…” She trailed off. Violet sobered up.

“Yeah. We were,” She sighed. “God, fucking middle school. I don’t remember half of it, and what I do remember is shit.”

Clementine tilted her head, curious. “Yeah, you didn’t live here for middle school.”

“I didn’t. I used to live in Texas, actually. Moved there in fifth grade. Stayed there until halfway through freshman year, when things got… they got really bad. So we moved back.”

“And are things less shitty now?” Clem asked. Violet shrugged.

“I mean, here I’ve got Louis, at least.”

“And you’ve got me, too,” Clem said firmly, a lot more certain of herself than she felt. She felt a connection to Violet, something she’d never felt so soon or so intensely ever before. Violet’s head swiveled to look at Clem, clearly surprised. Shit, She probably didn’t feel the same way. They’d hung out one time, that didn’t mean anything.

“I… yeah. I’ve got you,” Violet smiled softly, and Clementine relaxed. Violet rubbed the back of her neck nervously. “I’ve gotta be honest. Even after I talked to you at your locker, I wasn’t sure you actually wanted to hang out. Or if you did, it was just some kind of… good person thing. You know, I was some kind of charity case for you, whatever. I don’t know. I’ve not exactly got people lining up to invite me to shit, you know? But... you actually wanted to hang out with me, didn’t you?”

Violet looked at her, and she seemed so vulnerable in that moment. Clem nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, I really did. And… I’d like to do it again, I think. I mean, if you want to, of course. Maybe just us this time, so there’s less of a chance of Duck telling you about the time I put a bug on his pillow in second grade.”

Violet raised an eyebrow. “You mean, there’d still be a chance? Because I’d love to hear about how that one turned out.”

“Actually, that one’s a lot more embarrassing for Duck than it is for me. I might be persuaded to tell you, in exchange for an embarrassing story about Louis…” She grinned.

“Lucky for you, I’ve got plenty.”

“I look forward to hearing them,” Clem said. Suddenly, she remembered the odd interaction between Louis, Violet, and Marlon. “Hey, if you don’t mind me asking… what was up with you guys and Marlon?”

Violet’s expression immediately darkened. “Oh, uh… You should probably ask Louis, not me. He and Marlon… they’ve got history.”

Clementine nodded, resolving to ask Louis about it if they got closer.

“How far’s your house?”

Violet quickly looked down at her feet. “It’s pretty far. We’ll probably get to your house first.”

Clem nodded, realizing they’d reached her street. “That’s pretty likely, since that’s my house.”

Violet took it in for a moment. “It’s a nice house.”

“Thanks.”

They reached it momentarily, and Clem paused by the gate.

“I’m glad we hung out. You’re pretty cool, Vi,” She said, testing out the nickname. Violet’s face flushed, and Clementine attributed it to the cold air.

“I… thanks. You’re pretty cool, too.”

Clementine grinned. “Thanks. Have a safe walk home.”

“Yeah, I will. After what happened the other night, I’m definitely gonna be watching my back,” Violet said, and Clem noted that she wasn’t completely joking. A run in with a superpowered criminal would definitely shake a person up… Clem knew from experience.

“Text me when you get home, okay?”

Violet nodded. “I will. Night, Clem.”

“Night.”

As she watched Violet head down her street, Clementine smiled softly. The day had been a success, and hopefully, it would lead to her hanging out with Violet a little more often from now on. She definitely liked the sound of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! again, if you wanna give @utcb-spider-clem a follow and/or shoot me an ask over there, that'd be rad! and as always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!
> 
> thanks for reading, and have a fantastic day <3

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are appreciated, have a gr8 day yall


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